St. Martin
November 30th 2006
Alan's
Log:
Joan's Log:
After a week or so
of beaches, swimming, snorkeling and
partying with Martin & Colin and another week on our own, we
decided for a change of scenery and sailed from Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin
Islands to St. Martin. It's a long day sail against the prevailing wind,
so we decided to make it a night sail and motor against the lighter night
winds. So we set off at around 3pm from Virgin Gorda. We wound up
making better speed than we had thought and slowed down over night so as to
arrive with the dawn in Marigot, St. Martin. From this point on things just get cooler and cooler so don't get mad, all I can say is.... GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE!!!!
We checked into the new and centrally-located Marina Fort St. Louis and spent a couple of days exploring Marigot on foot and sampling the restaurants. St. Martin is a French Island and there was a marked improvement in the food available for sale, the markets, grocery stores and restaurants from the British Virgin Islands. We then rented a car for 3 days at the bargain rate of $35 per day incl. ins. and toured the island.
We started off with a hairy drive up a very narrow steep twisty single lane 2 way drive up to Pic Paradise to get a idea for the land. It was hardly a tourist spot, the sign was hand-written and hidden in the bushes behind France Telecom's radio tower. But what a view!!! We looked down over Orient Village, and the famous (infamous) Orient Beach.
How do you like my hiking attire? Forget the hiking boots and gear, when in the Caribbean all you need is a swimsuit and flipflops!
St. Martin has tons of restaurants, mostly french, and mostly great, so hard to choose. One night we ended up at a Morroccan restaurant, called Marrakesh. Totally amazing. The minute you walked in to the courtyard, you were transported into another era, Casablanca is what comes to mind. We had cocktails in a tented patio, scented with exotic spices and lit with hundreds of candles. The breeze billowed the curtains in the cool air and in the background a haunting melody of chirping tree frogs and arab music completed the seduction. We ordered a melange of flavors as an appetizer, 12 small bowls containing combinations of every flavor, sweet, sour, salty, spicy, served with pita bread. Wonderful! Then we both had different tagines, mine... chicken with olives and preserved lemons, Alans... Lamb, prunes, almonds. Perfection!
I am now obsessed with tagine cooking, must have one sometime but it will have to wait.
We shopped at the French Superstore for essentials and cheese, and at the somewhat touristy but good fresh market on the town dock. We also stocked up on saffron and other essentials at bargain prices.
One of the most picturesque towns is Grand Case. We ate there a few years ago on another trip. This time we contented ourselves
with taking photos of the town and beach.
Back to Marigot, we had pre-dinner drinks at the Saint Germaine in Port Royal Harbor at the extreme end of Simpsons bay. A beautiful spot to end the day, and Joan found her winter linen outfit at store nearby.
One more picture or Port Royal and the last is of Marigot as we sailed off to St Barts...to watch, from a distance the lives of the rich and famous!
Next......St. Barts, F.W.I.