Jim and GM 2022

[Jim A]

It’s always eventful when your trip starts with a 6:30am JetBlue flight out of JFK, but having already shortened the trip to 6 nights due to family obligations we wanted to enjoy as much of day one as possible. So, in order to make the 1pm Tradewind flight our Sunday morning started with the alarm going off at 2:45am.

The scowls and complete apathy of pretty much everyone working at JFK reminded us we weren’t yet where we wanted to be. Our flight was probably about 80% empty and we were the only ones in “even more space” which made it feel a little like a private flight. The crew spread all of the passengers out for weight distribution purposes and since everyone had their own row, I wondered if we wasted our money on our seat upgrades since everyone had “more space”.

We arrived at SJU and it seemed a little more empty than usual but perhaps it was just due to the hour of our arrival. We arrived at the Tradewind lounge and I finally felt like we were starting our trip as we loosely plotted out what we wanted to do and where we wanted to eat over our customary complimentary multiple cappuccinos. I don’t remember them having full size sandwiches in the past which worked out great for us with our long travel day. They also brought out full bottles of wine instead of the small bottles we were used to, but we passed due to the lack of a bathroom on the flight and the previously stated multiple cappuccinos.

we arrived at SBH and after 7 seconds at immigration we were stamped, grabbed our bags and then our car and villa keys from Odile at Gumbs and were off to the villa. Since it was Sunday we bypassed our usual stop at the Super Marche U and made a quick stop at L’Oasis for just a days worth of necessities. We stopped off at the villa to enjoy the amazing view and put some clothes away and enjoyed some La Gloriette rhum that was graciously left for us and then walked over to JoJo Burger for our traditional first late lunch and bottle of rose’. Now the vacation had really started.


A great little surprise to start our trip and get us in the mood

 

[amyb]

Welcome. You’ve only just begun. Enjoy.

 

[Jim A]

and our favorite burger on the island with some great frites and some rose’ to set the vibe

 

[cec1]

. . . and so great to see you while we were walking on St. Jean beach — welcome back!

 

[Dennis]

Awesome. Have a blast!

 

[GramChop]

Ah…St Barth!

Wishing you a wonderful time.

 

[PeterLynn]

Love the JoJo!

 

[marybeth]

Yay! A trip report! Just what I need at 17 days to go. Keep posting please and have a GREAT trip.

 

[Jim A]

Our usual first night dinner is Les Bananiers but was changed to Black Ginger due to being Sunday and due to the fact that we will always end up with takeout pizza from there at least once anyway. Spoiler alert we did!!! We love Black Ginger and you know you are in St Barth when Black Ginger is considered a reasonably priced option. The only issue we ever have there is how hot and humid it can be, but we lucked out as we often do and the small table we like was available. It’s at the top of the stairs and isn’t too desirable to most because it is kind of in the corner and behind a post so they opt for other tables but due to the fact that the fan over the steps blows on you when seated there and you can look down onto the main level it’s the best table in the house to me.

GM had a black Ginger fizz cocktail and prawn rolls to start





and I had a glass of Sancerre and the crispy crab spring rolls that I always get




for our main course GM had the stir fry chicken with cashew nuts





and I had the chopped pork with Thai basil and mixed in a healthy amount of the sticky rice. A little spicy and a lot yummy.




we were very content and pretty full but we managed to split a mango and raspberry sorbet for dessert

 

[Dennis]

All that.

 

[cec1]

Excellent “food porn!) — merci!

 

[Jim Kelly-Evans]

Looking great! Enjoy your time on the island.

 

[Tiffany]

Enjoy! One more month to wait for us.

 

[Jim A]

Monday was our rent chairs at Pearl Beach day. Always a great experience for us. A day on St Jean enjoying the sea, the sun, the planes and walking the beach is a great way to start a trip. I knew that Lil’Rock was closed but I didn’t know they were doing construction before reopening the new place. Supposedly it will open soon, but it sure didn’t look that way. So with one option gone we ended up just having lunch at Pearl Beach and really enjoyed it. We split a great tuna tartare appetizer with creole seasoning. GM went for the salmon entree with a side salad as her lunch and I had the mahi mahi burger with frites. Both were very good.








we followed it up with a bottle of champagne at our chairs after lunch

 

[GramChop]

Sounds like the perfect afternoon, y’all! Santé! :very_drunk:

 

[GMP62]

Looks like you’re off to a terrific start…enjoy!!

 

[Jim A]

Our walk on St Jean on Monday was our first encounter this trip with our resident sbh legend Dennis aka CEC1. Always a pleasure to meet such a gentleman and eloquent writer/poster/ambassador of the island. Stay tuned for our next encounter

 

[GramChop]

Our walk on St Jean on Monday was our first encounter with our resident sbh legend Dennis aka CEC1. Always a pleasure to meet such a gentleman and eloquent writer/poster/ambassador of the island. Stay tuned for our next encounter

Je suis d’accord! :heart1:

 

[Jim A]

Monday night’s dinner was at our personal favorite spot on the island. Very under the radar here but absolutely amazing if you love great food and French wines and IMO the absolutely best service on the island: Le Papillon Ivre. Probably the best French wine list of any place I’ve been to. Julie and her staff just seem like they love every minute of their jobs and both the food and wines are incredible. Unfortunately I don’t have any food pics because we were so excited for each course that I forgot but these were our two favorite wines from this trip. The white we ordered a bottle of and the red by the glass. You choose which option is best for you







this is one of the best red wines I’ve had at this price point. Absolutely amazing. If she still has it, try it, or don’t and save it for me for next year




if you haven’t eaten at Le Papillon Ivre, try it, you won’t be disappointed. Not only great food and wine, but fun, fun, fun too. We just love it. Just tell Julie what types of wine you like and let her pick for you. We had some aged cheese she brought out for us just because she thought it paired well with the wine we ordered (it absolutely did), some amazing oysters, escargot Bourgogne style that were better than we had in Burgundy, a stracciatella cheese and ham dish that was incredible with some bread, an eggplant dish that we have ordered before and loved, a beef Bourguignon that was amazing and had just a drop of sweetness to it to set it apart and was very tender which brought out the switch to red wine and perhaps a couple more items that I’ll add when I think of them (there were so many!!!). Each was great and really creative and I’ll stress again the service which was incredibly attentive and helpful. A must try.

 

[Jim A]

Tuesday afternoon was at Saline beach and lunch was sandwiches at the absolutely most beautiful spot/view on the island. Here’s a quick sargassum report. Monday at St Jean no sign at all. Tuesday at Saline a little bit, but not too bad. Some in the water but very easy to avoid and some on the beach but not too much. Wednesday Colombier, none and while a little on the “lower walk” no smell at all, unlike some other times.

GM patiently waiting for me to go to the beach…meep meep…






saline not nearly as rough as usual. The walk is always worth it and never really crowded





Tuesday’s takeaway lunch from L’Oasis with a million dollar view…yummy…