Category — Travel

On Sunday we moved into Villa La Case du Roy in Anse de Cayes. We rented this villa through St. Barth’s Properties; however we have found out that we could also have rented it directly from the owner. This is a 1 bedroom villa with a bit of a view of the ocean and it looks across to Point Milou. The villa is all very modern with lots of white tile, white roof, stylish furniture, stainless kitchen, large en suite, a separate bathroom for when guests visit and you can tell that the owner takes very good care of their investment property. There is a very private back garden area with two sitting areas, barbeque and large hot tub. The front has a view of the ocean, a large covered deck with eating area, a hammock and loungers. Pretty tough to take. The real story is how we met the owners. About 1/2 hr after getting to the villa we heard a beeping sound and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. We finally traced it down to the refrigerator; an alarm was going. We could tell that the fridge was on it’s way out and things were warming up. So we called St. Barth’s property and left a message, expecting to hear back on Monday morning. About 1 hr later we received a call saying the owners were on there way over to take a look. Well between our limited French and her limited English we explained what had happened and she was more upset than us about not having it working that night. Anyway at 7:30 am the next morning she stopped by to see if it was better and overnight it quit altogether…… at least the annoying beeping stopped. About 1 hr later her husband (who speaks no English) arrived with a large cooler full of ice and we were able to understand that a repairman was on the way. In the end it all worked out, the fridge is repaired and for the inconvenience the owner left us a very nice bottle of Brut-Rose Wine. We’ll enjoy that later this evening.

On Sunday we left Villa 21 for our new villa in Anse de Cayes (more on this villa later). Dean and Judy headed off to Anquilla for the week. We tried to drag out leaving as long as possible; however the next guest was anxious to get in, they had the villa rented for 3 months. So after packing we had another quick dip in the pool, took some pictures and headed out. After saying goodbye to Dean and Judy at the airport we headed down to Gustavia to enjoy the waterfront. Brenda took the picture of the Flamboyant Tree in bloom, the picture just doesn’t do them justice they are quite spectacular. Gustavia was different than usual. It was very quiet since it was around 1:00 p.m. and it was Sunday. Everyday of the week the majority of shopping businesses close for lunch between 12:00 to 2:00 or 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. So, at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday there is not a lot going on, a few Luxury Yachts in the harbour, the odd boat going by with locals and very little traffic on the streets.

On Thursday we headed off for a beach walk to a natural tidal pool called the washing machine or “Machine a Laver”. The trail starts out in the area of Grand Fond on a beach that is made up of large flat coral stones and after about 1/2 km you then start climbing the rock cliffs, dirt banks and around the scrub brush that covers the area. The views are quite spectacular however there are times when you are quite high above the ocean and a slip or trip probably wouldn’t be that good for you. Anyway after about 25 – 30 minutes you get to the “Machine a Laver”….. the natural tidal pool. The interesting thing is the tidal pool is very calm, the water is very warm and there is a lot of sea life attached and/or swimming around. But just outside this protected serene area the ocean is crashing on the rocks and occasionally a larger swell will wash over the rocks and a wave will surge into the tidal pool. This keeps the sea water refreshed however the sea life is pretty well trapped inside this area. Enjoy the pictures.

On Sunday we moved to Villa 21 for a week together with Dean and Judy. As I mentioned Villa 21 is located on the hillside in Lorient and to get here you have to drive a very steep and twisty one lane road and without help of the villa representative you could never find this villa. More on the roads and our rental vehicle in another post. It’s tough to get an entire outside picture of the villa as it is so steep and terraced on the property. The benefits are the great views and total privacy. Another neat thing in this area is that we have a few St. Barts Iguanas that live around the villas here; they really look and act pre-historic. I attempted to take a few pictures but they are tough to get. The one really close picture I grabbed off the Internet. There are also pictures of Villa 21 – more to come at a later date. Off for a morning hike

Last evening we went into Gustavia for Carnival Night. This Carnival entertainment was described in the local paper (French of course and we translated to English) as an evening of various bands, drums meeting at various points, joining together and a final large parade through the streets of Gustavia. However, it did not quite work out this way. The first troupe we heard warming up off the main street so we headed up the hill to check them out. There was a collection of 20 people, a lot with various drums or bongos, a few people dressed in funny costumes and 1 person playing the conch shell for the musical part. They finally head off down main street, stopping traffic and having a few laughs along the way. Now after about 5 minutes the songs all start to sound the same and the poor conch player has no lip left; but they persevere and head around the streets and harbour of Gustavia. About half way through we spotted another group warming up. Now this troupe looked like it had promise. Mostly because beyond just the drums and bongos they also had a some tambourines, a couple conch players and a trumpet….. Oh Ya! They also had a few of large bottles of Carbbean Rum they were passing around to help get the musicians tuned up. We assumed they would join the first group as advertised! Wrong! They waited until the first group were well out of ear shot and then they started off and they would stop for no reason at all. Anyway in the end both groups met in a market area of Gustavia and played till their arms were tired. We know this because we stopped for dinner about 2 blocks away and were able to hear them over a fabulous dinner at Les Boucaniers on the harbour in Gustavia. Quite the experience. Pictures attached.

Dean and Judy stayed at a nice 1 room villa on the hillside in Vitet. The villa was decorated very interestingly; it reminded Judy of a Gramma’s Cottage…… probably the best way to describe it. The pool was in a unique location on an area above the villa; which is not like most villas in St. Bart’s where the pool is located in front of the deck. However, what made the villa was the fantastic view of Marigot and the ocean below. They had 2 weeks here prior to moving with us to Villa 21 in Lorient. Attached are a few pictures.

Once we arrived at St. Jean Airport, Dean and Judy were there to greet us. We picked up our rental car, had a coffee (espresso) and Marie-Flore from L’Etoile du Marin arrived and we followed her to our accommodation for the next three nights. L’Etoile du Marin is a beautiful accommodation overlooking the village of Corossol. Marie-Flore and her husband Arnaud have done an amazing job with this accommodation. It is very clean, well laid out, it has absolutely everything you need and we will definitely be back for another visit;  pictures are attached. From L’Etoile du Marin there is a view of the Port of Gustavia where the super rich sit on their luxury yachts staring down at the common folk who walk by admiring their luxury yachts. Actually Gustavia is also a great location for shopping and exploring the island of St. Bart’s with it’s trendy little coffee shops, designer shops and narrow streets it makes for a great adventure. On Friday Dean and Judy had us over to their villa in Vitet for a wonderful dinner and a great visit. We are so fortunate to be able to have this time with them in this magical location of St. Bart’s. Not too bad for four kids from poor little Westsyde to be able to fly to the Caribbean and sit on the deck of an amazing Villa sipping fine French wine and eating a dinner that rivals any culinary school or restaurant around. In a couple days we move to Villa 21 in Lorient with Dean and Judy. We know that the next week will be exciting, fun, full of food, visiting and the occasional cocktail of French Wine, St. Bart’s Vanilla Rum or Carib Beer. More to come.

If you have never been to the island of St. Barthelemy (a.k.a. St. Barth’s or St. Barts) the adventure starts once you get to the airport in St. Maarten; since that is the transfer point to St. Bart’s. We arrived at Princess Julianna Airport about 1 1/2 hours early for our flight to St. Barts. After check-in at the terminal we headed through customs, security, etc and when we got to the gate we were asked if we wanted to catch an earlier flight? Of course we agreed, however our baggage was checked on to a later flight…… no problem the gate agent said (can you just imagine that in any airport in North America?); he said what do your bags look like and where are the claim tags and within 10 minutes they have located our bags, loaded us on a shuttle bus and we are headed to St. Barts. A couple pictures are attached of our flight over. Once you near St. Bart’s the pilots get fairly busy As they from the west there are quite a few turbulence coming off the ocean, so the plane is rising and falling pretty good. Then once they can kind of see the runway/airstrip over a steep hill the pilot puts the plane into a nose dive so he can land on the very short airstrip. Lots of YouTube videos check them out.

“A Sea Shanty for Bergybit”

(Sung to any tune that uses a Squeeze Box and a Tin Whistle)

(Optional Equipment: Eye Mask, Bottle of Rum and Jolly Roger)

Oh! Li De Di De Di De Di De Di De Di De Di 

Alas there is poor “Bergybit” a sitting on the ground

She’s on the hard on the stands with doggies all around

She looks so small and forlorn, she’s as tiny as can be

Just imagine Admiral and Gilligan sailing on the Caribbean Sea

Oh! Li De Di De Di De Di De Di De Di De Di 

Without permission we climbed aboard to take a look at last

It must have been a windy season for the tarps they didn’t last

There she sits with a list so long of jobs that need to go

So once she’s  in the water she can tack and gibe just so

Oh! Li De Di De Di De Di De Di De Di De Di 

But alas she sits in the Bobby’s Boat Yard awaiting on her crew

To hoist the mast, rig the sails and check the hanks and clew

Too much to do for us land based folks, our time here’s kind of thin

So we’ll just head back for a Carib Beer, at the Turquoise Shell Inn 

We can’t promise a daily update but here is a summation of Day #1. Today we worked at getting our bodies turned around to the 4 hour time difference, which is not too hard when you are in a warm climate and the sun rises early. We started the morning with a nice walk on Simpson Bay Beach and nice swim dip in the ocean, no pictures as they get repetitive after a while, so we just soaked in the warmth and beauty of the moment. After that we had a quick breakfast and then we were off to explore the Simpson Bay area and a quick visit to the Gourmet Marche for a few essentials most importantly a French Baguette. Then back to the Turquoise Shell Inn where we met a very nice couple from Ontario who are here for 2 months and gave us lots of tips about the area. Right after lunch we headed back to the beach to walk down the end of the SXM runway and visit the Sunset Beach Bar. Now, if you have never been to St. Maarten or heard of Maho Bay this is a “must do” at least once. The attraction is to get a chance to watch the afternoon flights arriving from USA, Canada, France, England and other locations. There are lots of videos on “You Tube” under St. Maarten or Maho Bay and I have attached a few pictures that we took. After doing the touristy thing we headed back to Simpson Bay and Turquoise Shell Inn for a swim in the ocean, a dip in the pool and that pretty well ended the fun for today. Check in later…….. we can’t guarantee anything as Internet connection is spotty.