French Kissed By The Sun In St. Martin
Written: Jan 23 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Too numerous to list in only 15 words, so I won't even try.
Cons: I'm not qualified to review the unbelievable restaurants in detail. Believe me, you'll be amazed.
The Bottom Line: A different fabulous beach every day. More top of the line restaurants than you can imagine. Friendly people. Paradise.
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| gfg12's Full Review: St. Martin Island |
In this season of frigid temperatures in the Northeast part of the United States, thoughts often turn toward the sun. I know ours did. And so research was done (thanks to the Internet), and a new type of winter vacation was planned in St. Martin. One without all inclusive packages. One without hordes of children monopolizing the pool. One with a focus on multiple beaches, and fabulous food. French food, mostly, although some great Italian food can also be found on St. Martin. Oh, and wine. And most of all, peace and freedom from stress. We wanted a place where the toughest decision you have to make each day is where to eat dinner. And so it came to pass. This is how.
First of all, we had to get past the psychological hurdle of accepting the fact that such a trip was going to cost serious money. It took a lot of discussion, but we got there. We used frequent flyer miles to avoid paying cash for the airfare. The miles are there to be used, so use them we did. We chose a top of the line boutique hotel that ran $370 per night, higher than we're used to paying, but worth it in this context. For a review of the wonderful L'Esplanade, see my epinion dated January 22, 2004.
Food, and everything else, is quite expensive in St. Martin. Almost all ingredients of significance are flown in from overseas, and the chefs here do not stint on quality. So unless you're planning to eat at Subway, expect to average about $100 for a nice dinner for two. Yeah, I know it's a lot, but this is your vacation, and you want to make it special. You absolutely must deal with this issue in advance of your trip, so you don't end up getting distraught when you arrive on the island and see the prices for the first time. If you want to plan some of your feasts in advance, there's a very useful web site called gobeach.com where people post updated reviews on the restaurants. I found it very helpful, and you will too. You can usually tell from the way the reviews are written whether the writers have taste similar to yours.
St. Martin is a small island covering only 37 square miles. There is a Dutch side and a French side. Guess which one cares more about food, and which one cares more about commerce? You're right. The Dutch side is good only if you like casinos a lot or you're searching for a bargain on electronics or jewelry. Front St. in Philipsburg is the commercial hub, and it's teeming with shops competing against each other for the tourists' dollars and euros. The shops are tax free and duty free. The quality of the goods is excellent, but the environment is depressing, at least for me. If you go to shop, you will want to do your business and get out of town quickly. All the shops close at 6 PM on the Dutch side. The streets in Philipsburg are not particularly safe after dark. Remember that if you want to get dollars from an ATM, however, you have to do it on the Dutch side. All the machines on the French side dispense euros only, for what reason I cannot fathom.
The casinos are nothing special; sort of like a lower grade version of Atlantic City, and certainly nothing like Las Vegas. There are enough of them, however, to make it clear that a market exists on the Dutch side for this type of entertainment. Not my style.
We stayed on the French side. There's a pretty little town called Marigot with some rather exclusive shops, especially in a new indoor arcade called The West Indies Mall. Marigot also has an open air market every day selling local crafts, and on Wednesday and Saturday fresh food from local growers is available too. Spices galore. In Marigot you must go to breakfast at a place called Zee Best. It has zee best croissants evair. So good you will leave speaking in a French accent, which may persist till you get on the plane to go home. Your spouse may become alarmed, but don't worry; it's only a temporary condition.
THE BEACHES OF ST. MARTIN
Our hotel was in an even smaller town called Grand Case, nearby. Grand Case Beach is nothing much, just a thin strip of sand behind Grand Case Boulevard, where all the incredible restaurants of the town are located. The best thing to do on Grand Case Beach is to avoid it during the day, but to stroll on it in the evening, in the moonlight, after one of your excellent repasts. Grand Case Boulevard, by the way, is an amusing misnomer, as the street is barely wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic, especially if one lane contains a truck. Tres amusant, but not if you are trying to get somewhere for an 8 PM reservation and it's already 7:50. Such an encounter led to me actually getting out of the car to yell at someone, who in turn yelled at me, albeit in French. But we got there in time for dinner. Sometime it's faster to walk to your destination on Grand Case Boulevard.
Petite Plage is another beach in town. Very tiny, but actually usable, and awfully convenient to our hotel as it's only a five minute walk. This beach is on the property of The Grand Case Beach Club, another hotel in town. But like all beaches in St. Martin, it's available to the public. There are very friendly attendants on this beach who distribute wash cloths soaked in ice water twice a day, to sooth your fevered brow. A welcome respite from the heat. There's also a bar where you can sit for lunch or a drink, and watch the waves.
We spent a pleasant morning on Petite Plage, and then in the afternoon we took a cruise till sunset on a lovely 72 foot catamaran called Scoobidoo. The crew was energetic and entertaining. They played music and served drinks as we sailed to a nearby uninhabited island called Tintamarre. There we snorkeled and explored the deserted beach. Then we slowly sailed back toward Grand Case, on the way encountering a school of dolphins, who playfully dove through the sea as the sun glinted off their backs. As you would imagine, since we were literally within a few yards of them, this was an excellent photo opportunity. However, I found it somewhat difficult to take advantage of, due to trying to focus while balancing on a catamaran in motion after downing several cool glasses of rum punch. Quite a problem, huh?
Our vacation planning included obtaining a rental car in advance, as we knew we were going to travel to many different beaches. The rental company, which our hotel hooked us up with, was quite efficient. They picked us up at the airport in the car that would become ours for the week, and deposited us at our hotel, which was about a half hour ride from the airport. They also provided a driver to return us to the airport at the end of the trip, thus avoiding the necessity of finding where to drop off the car and then get to the gate with all our luggage. As an added bonus, our driver loved Bill Clinton's presidency, and had many bad words to say about the incumbent. This greatly enlivened our ride and got us back in the mood to deal with coming home to face reality.
After studying our map diligently, the first beach we drove to was Orient Bay, which is perhaps the most famous beach in St. Martin. Orient Bay has several hotels along it, and a lot of beach bars and restaurants. There are water sports of every variety available, which leads to something of a circus atmosphere on the beach. One end of it has a naturist resort. This beach was more like the American ones we are familiar with, and so it did not especially excite us. I did not go to St. Martin in order to sniff the pungent aroma of gasoline from Jet Skis.
So we left early and drove to another beach on our list, Anse Marcel. To get to Anse Marcel, you have to drive up a long and twisting mountain road that appears to lead to nowhere. It feels a bit like the more rural portions of the Pacific Coast Highway in California. Then, all of a sudden, a resort appears. It's called Le Meridien, and it's beautiful. It's also in bankruptcy. Obviously the builders misjudged how many people would be willing to spend their costly vacation in such an isolated location. There's a huge and winding swimming pool (off-limits to non-paying guests, of course), and an absolutely gorgeous stretch of beach. Very few people were in evidence. The grounds were beautifully taken care of, and the beach is simply breathtaking. You can rent a chair for $5, or order a drink from the barefoot waitress who strolls down the beach. Still, due to the isolated location and the somewhat unfriendly tone of the place, it's obvious that the owners aren't thrilled about having the public on their property. It's easy to understand the bankruptcy.
The complete opposite in terms of friendliness would be Pinel Island. Near Grand Case is an even smaller town called Cul de Sac. In Cul de Sac you can take a $5 ferry ride for a few minutes and land on Pinel Island, a very popular beach. Yet it never feels crowded or honky-tonk in any way. This is a terrific place. The water is totally calm and placid, so there are many families in evidence. But the children weren't irritating. Perhaps it was because they spoke French, eh? In any event, there is a tranquil atmosphere on the island. The view from any angle on the beach is wonderful. There is a souvenir shop on the island run by a Dutch emigre who wears a pareo and seems for all the world like a modern day Paul Gaugain. He speaks charmingly about why he left his job as a schoolteacher in Holland to live the island life. His only stress, he told us, comes from the occasional hurricane, which forces him to dismantle his shop (which is under a giant tent), and then put it back together again.
Pinel Island has two restaurants. The one we chose for lunch was Koklatuni. It has great ribs, though no barbecue sauce, as in America. All the flavor comes from the wonderful spices used in the tremendous open pit where the ribs are made. Good stuff.
We had heard of a great beach called Baie Longue, so we set off to find it one day. Eventually, we did. But it took a while. First you drive to La Samanna, a very ritzy resort. Then you have to keep going down what soon becomes a very rutted, dirt road. "It's only five minute away," says the security guard. Fat chance. Twenty minutes later, after withstanding numerous impulses to turn around and forget about it in order to save the undercarriage of our poor little rented Toyota Corolla, we finally got there. And amazingly enough, it was worth it.
Baie Longue is truly unbelievable. It's lined with mansions, like Pebble Beach, only grander. This is obviously primo real estate. And no one was there. The beach looked like a post card, or a painting. Words cannot adequately describe the grandeur of the scene. Since there was nobody there, there was nothing to do but lay on our towels for a while and drink in the beauty. No chairs, drinks, or food, so we didn't stay too long. But we'll never forget the scene.
Next we went to Cupecoy Beach, a most unusual one, to say the least. Now we were prepared for the clothing optional beaches of St. Martin. After all, the place is French. All the beaches had topless bathers. It's just not a big deal there. Mothers at the beach with their children go topless. Older ladies too, sometimes. The waiters who serve them their drinks don't ever let their eyes wander. No, the toplessness was no surprise at all.
But at Cupecoy Beach, it wasn't just clothing optional. There was no clothing. None. Except ours. No one had bothered to tell us about this feature of Cupecoy. Besides the guy who rents the chairs and serves you a beer if you want one, we were the only ones wearing bathing suits on a beach where in excess of 100 people were relaxing in the altogether. Quel surprise!
We got used to it after a while, and had a great afternoon. Cupecoy is unique. There are white limestone cliffs leading down to the beach. The sun reflects off the limestone and is nearly blinding at times. There are little pools that form near the rocks at the edge of the water, so you can sit in them for a break from the sun, and cool off.
We met a group of nudists from Michigan who teased us because we were clothed. They were friendly, though. So at one point they asked me if I would take a photograph for them with their camera, which I was glad to do. They all lined up with their backs to me and placed their arms around the shoulders of those next to them, a la The Rockettes. Then I snapped a picture of their six naked butts all in a row, so at Christmas back in Michigan they can smile, remembering the 80 degree January afternoon at Cupecoy Beach. For sure I'll remember it.
My favorite beach of all on St. Martin is Friars Bay. This beach is just intoxicating. The water is clear, and usually peaceful, although one day it did knock us around a bit. The sun sets over a huge rock formation at the far left hand edge of the beach. As it does, the water becomes almost purple if the light is right. Giant birds dive bomb into the sea to catch their dinners. There is a feeling of peace in the air. Everyone has a blissful grin.
You've been there since lunch time, enjoying the sun and the sand. Lunch (two hours or so!) was at The Friars Bay Beach Cafe, which is all of five steps behind your chair. The motto of this particular cafe, translated from the French, is "Open every day, even when it snows." Lunch may have been foie gras, or else a delicate freshly caught fish called sea bream, washed down (slowly, languorously) by an excellent French Chardonnay. Not a glass. A bottle.
All is right with the world. You want to return. You promise yourself you will.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Dec - Feb
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Epinions.com ID:
gfg12
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Location: Philadelphia
Reviews written: 63
Trusted by: 30 members
About Me:
If we're treading on thin ice, then we might as well dance. (Jesse Winchester)
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