Trip Report March 26th – April 2nd

We traveled to St. Martin with our (3) Daughters (15,13,13) and our first AuPair who is now 28.

Flights:
United direct from Chicago. On-time and uneventful both ways and immigration in St Martin was a breeze. We had 3 people before us. Customs and Immigration in Chicago was also great.

Car Rental:
Triple AAA Car rental. We met with the AAA rep at the airport and they quickly moved the six of us to pick up our van that we had reserved. We had 7 bags, 6 people and carry-ons stuffed into the van with their driver so it was a little tight on the way around the airport. We did the paperwork and were on our way in our slightly scratched and dented mini-van in about 15 minutes.

Interesting note was I asked her about not locking the car and she agreed so that way if someone wanted to look they could look without breaking the locks.

Traffic was not really a big issue

Accomodations:
We rented a villa again in Orient Bay. This year we stayed in Matisse #1 versus Matisse #4. It sleeps 6 and is much nicer than Matisse #4. It had a huge kitchen and first floor sitting area with a DVD player, wired DSL internet, free American based phone calls and a huge yard which backs ups to the beach and has a gate that puts you into Waikiki’s parking lot.

The second floor has two A/C bedrooms with baths. The master bedroom has a huge closet king size bed and a full bath. The other bedroom has its own full bath and a queen bedroom. The third floor has a king size bed and full bath.

The windows and doors either have security bars or hurricane shutters for security. The doors also have deadbolts and all the bedrooms have deadbolts.

Beach time:
We spent most of our time at Bikini beach. We had great service from Val and Alain. The food was also very good. We also ate at Andy and Cheryl’s during the day. The kids enjoyed parasailing, the trampoline and boogey boards.

Scuba:
My wife and oldest daughter got their open water certification at Octopus Diving in Grand Case. One Word ‘AWESOME’ . They were awesome in every aspect. My daughter is a competitive swimmer so there was no doubt she would love it and she went for a 3rd set of dives. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Security:
The police were everywhere! On the French side we saw road stops at the Pinel island circle, Marigot near the marina stopping motorcycles, Pinel island circle again stopping motorcycles and Grand case stopping motor cycles.

Grand case has police and security guards patrolling the streets constantly. The Marigot marina had security guards walking the dock like clockwork every ten minutes.
The Dutch side had a visible police presence in vehicles but not nearly as much as the French. We were a group of 6 which definitely does help with a feeling of safety.

Restaurants:
LaVilla: Very Very Good – One of the best meals we had in regard to the food but the service was awful.
Piazza Pascal – Very Good – Spaghetti Carbonera and Veal Milanase was wonderful. Service great.
L’Escapade – Disappointing . Service was fine but the food was just OK.
IL Nettuno – Always very good and dependable service. Probably the most overlooked restaurant in Grand case. Matteo who sings their for two months is a wonderful friendly entertainer. The Veal and Gnocchi dishes are great.
Talk of the Town - Very good. Ribs and chicken were very good.
La Gondola – The food was very good but the menu posted on the website is much more extensive than the actual menu at the restaurant. Service as always is impeccable.

LaVilla and Piazza Pascal offered 1:1. L’Escapede had an exchange rate of 1:1.4 while Il Nettuno was 1:1.35 and the restaurant in Marigot was 1:1.3. They are all playing games.

It was a great trip and we can’t wait to go back.