We just returned from another outstanding vacation in St Barts. After an uneventful trip with Delta and Winair the vacation got off to a great start at the party hosted by Betty and Charles. It was nice to see some old acquaintances and meet some new Junies.
We quickly fell into our St Barts routine: visit a beach in the morning, lounge around the pool in the afternoon and select the restaurant for dinner. We visited most of the beaches returning to Governeur and Flamands twice. It was amazing that on our second trip to Governeur, the beach was completely unoccupied except for one fellow at the far end. Turtles and a large lobster were spotted while snorkeling at Marigot. The sargassum was starting to build on the west side of Flamands on our last day.
We went to a number of our favorite restaurants but tried a bunch of new ones. Highlights included getting to talk to Manu during our lunch at Santa Fe about his plans in France. Instead of desert we shared an order of d'artichaud violet. Manu was kind enough to share his recipe. I don't think the artichokes will taste as good on our deck as they tasted at our table at Santa Fe. Croissants from Petite Colombe were a favorite part of most breakfasts. Adding some home made apricot mango jam purchased in Gustavia made them even a little better. Les Bananiers has become one of our favorite dinner spots. Good food, a great view, very friendly wait staff and reasonable wine prices caused us to visit twice. The escargots started both dinners. While the dinner at Eddys was as good as ever, the wait staff is still asking whether a tip should be added before they run the credit card. Making reservations using the a la crate website worked quite well.
Growing up in Pittsburgh, it was a bonus to be able to see the Penguins win the Stanley Cup. It is strange watching ice hockey on a Caribbean island. Almost as enjoyable as watching the Stanley Cup was NOT seeing or hearing Hillary or Donald for twelve days.
Our vacation was split between staying three days at Normandie Hotel and eight days at La Baleine. We couldn't have asked for two more gracious hostesses than Eula and Rosita. As I reflect on all the wonderful experiences of this vacation, the best was sitting in the gazebo at La Baleine with my wife and a glass of wine, watching the boats below, planes approaching Gustavia and the competition between the bananaquits and hummingbirds for the sugar water at the feeder.
Hopefully we will continue to be blessed with good health so we can return to St Barts soon. Time to start planning!
We quickly fell into our St Barts routine: visit a beach in the morning, lounge around the pool in the afternoon and select the restaurant for dinner. We visited most of the beaches returning to Governeur and Flamands twice. It was amazing that on our second trip to Governeur, the beach was completely unoccupied except for one fellow at the far end. Turtles and a large lobster were spotted while snorkeling at Marigot. The sargassum was starting to build on the west side of Flamands on our last day.
We went to a number of our favorite restaurants but tried a bunch of new ones. Highlights included getting to talk to Manu during our lunch at Santa Fe about his plans in France. Instead of desert we shared an order of d'artichaud violet. Manu was kind enough to share his recipe. I don't think the artichokes will taste as good on our deck as they tasted at our table at Santa Fe. Croissants from Petite Colombe were a favorite part of most breakfasts. Adding some home made apricot mango jam purchased in Gustavia made them even a little better. Les Bananiers has become one of our favorite dinner spots. Good food, a great view, very friendly wait staff and reasonable wine prices caused us to visit twice. The escargots started both dinners. While the dinner at Eddys was as good as ever, the wait staff is still asking whether a tip should be added before they run the credit card. Making reservations using the a la crate website worked quite well.
Growing up in Pittsburgh, it was a bonus to be able to see the Penguins win the Stanley Cup. It is strange watching ice hockey on a Caribbean island. Almost as enjoyable as watching the Stanley Cup was NOT seeing or hearing Hillary or Donald for twelve days.
Our vacation was split between staying three days at Normandie Hotel and eight days at La Baleine. We couldn't have asked for two more gracious hostesses than Eula and Rosita. As I reflect on all the wonderful experiences of this vacation, the best was sitting in the gazebo at La Baleine with my wife and a glass of wine, watching the boats below, planes approaching Gustavia and the competition between the bananaquits and hummingbirds for the sugar water at the feeder.
Hopefully we will continue to be blessed with good health so we can return to St Barts soon. Time to start planning!
