Loved the report, I find it funny that I stayed from Sunday the 16th through the following Sunday, and we were staying about 50 feet away from you, and sure we crossed paths on the beach. We stayed next door at Atlantide - the place with the orange lounge chairs, and our unit was on the end of the building closest to LTC.

Pre Irma, we took a day trip to Anguilla, and thought Shoal Bay was the nicest sand and beach we had been on in a while. We discussed going back, and I couldn't justify the $200 in travel costs for a few hours on the beach. Instead, we planned to go to Pinel for a less expensive day trip. The day before we were going to Pinel, we went to Mullet Bay Beach, based on recommendations I read here, and really loved it. So the next day we went to Mullet, it was pretty overcast in the morning, so we came back to GC beach, and then went to Mullet again and stayed the following day, so never went to Pinel.

We have stayed in GC several years in a row now, and never make reservations, though we tend to go out early - around 6 or so, and never have trouble finding a place to eat. Comparing notes, we both ate at Ocean 82 and Villa, and enjoyed both. The dessert, which was on special, at Ocean 82 was extremely good, otherwise, we thought both offered similar food, and over the top service. I guess you never went down the street and tried Capt Frenchy's - we ate there once and the food was great, though it was a Monday night I think, and while the specials on the board included Veal Saltimbocca and some other interesting dishes, the waiter said they were only serving burgers and bar snacks - I don't know if the regular menu is available on other nights, or just for lunch. Sorry you didn't like Harmony Night, I didn't stay for the parade, but we liked seeing the artwork and other items for sale, and the crowd was definitely in a good mood.

As to Rainbow, yes, I have stayed next door to Rainbow a few years ago, it was horrible when they had their Mojito Monday night - which went to 2 am, and was pretty bad a few other nights. The last two years,we stayed two buildings away from Rainbow, and they still blast the music way too loud. I never went to complain, but did look out on the beach and saw that they were blaring the music for at most a handful of guests. It is a shame that they conduct themselves that way. You must have missed their day time beach act - apparently one or two days a week - they put a DJ on the beach with a microphone, and do games and contests during the day, I assume for people from cruise ships . Very annoying to others who are used to GC beach as a quiet beach. As a result, I never recommend Rainbow to others.

Surprised you found parking. Our bnb was advertised as free parking, but when we go there, there was scaffolding, so we were told to park in the pay lot , 10 Euro a day. We did, and that worked out fine.

When you say the French bakery, you mean the one on the Main Road - near the Pharmacie ? We sometimes go to that one, and other times go to the one on the side road just past Bistro Caribes - in years past the one near Bistro was better, but I heard from another visitor that they had some issue recently. When we were there this year, their baguettes were great, but they did not offer the variety of the one near the Pharmacie.

As to walking the boulevard, the first day of each trip, we see the boulevard, and the potholes and the damaged buildings ( even before Irma ) and feel very uneasy, but by the next day, we become accustomed to it , and never felt unsafe. This was the first year they had street lights and I thought that was a great improvement.

As to traffic, we drove through Marigot quite a few times, we take the route that bypasses the harbor, and normally find it pretty congested - i think there are 4 or 5 intersections that do not use roundabouts, and so there is a lot of stop and go . The only time we went through was on Sunday when we were leaving to go to the airport, and they were just starting a Festival parade, so much of the traffic went elsewhere to avoid the parade.

As to BBC's , we first tried them at St. Martin, and now get a few each time we return, but find the taste varies greatly depending on where you buy them. Some taste much like a Pina Colada with a little Baileys, others have a fair amount of cinnamon, and others taste strongly of Baileys. Most of them are good, but very different tastes.