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Tuesday was a shopping day. I hate to shop, but it’s a little more palatable here. We went to Marigot around 9 or so, and had Napoleons and cappuccino at Serafina’s, then wandered around the marketplace there for a while. Nothing there caught my eye, so we decided to drive over to Tijon. It was nice to see Jon and Cyndi again, and to stock up on some great after sun products. They had a bridal party in the store taking their perfume class…if you haven’t don’t this you should.
From there we headed to Cul de Sac and the Ma DouDou factory. Unfortunately they must not have been open, because although we tried the gate code a couple of times, it never opened. Hopefully we’ll be able to get up there before we leave because I’d like to get some gifts there. Since it was still too early for lunch, we drove back to the hotel and dropped off our purchases, then back to Marigot for lunch.
We had decided to try one of the restaurants in Marina Royale, as Rasputin has shamed me into going there. We parked in the lot and walked in, checking out the menus as we walked. We decided on Tropicana, and although we had to sit indoors, it was still nice as the entire restaurant is open air. The décor is typically French Caribbean, and we really enjoyed the atmosphere. I ordered the Salade Nicoise and David had chicken cordenbleu. My salad was quite good, but was missing two elements I think are essential to a Salade Nicoise: haricots verde and potatoes. David’s chicken was tasty, but not what he expected either, as it was made with sliced chicken and ham (deli-style) with the cheese sauce broiled on top. The service was excellent. Both meals, three glasses of wine, and a bottle of water came to 43 euros, or $59.
The walk to the car was not particularly comfortable, with people arguing at the entrance to the lot (almost coming to blows), and the really odd man who followed us to the car. I would definitely not be comfortable there at night, but will probably give another restaurant there a try next trip. The atmosphere is very unique, and we did enjoy that.
That evening we met Sue and John, and their new friends Bob and Cheryl, at Yvette’s for dinner. It was our first time there, and we were glad to have experts to guide us through our menu choices. For some reason, David and I have taken to having the same thing lately, and Yvette’s was no exception. We started with the crab back, which was quite tasty and served on a small salad, and for our main course we chose the stew creole chicken. This was delicious; perfectly cooked with a nice sauce. The meal is served with a salad on the plate, and rice and peas and plantains are served family-style. Others ordered whole creole snapper, baked ribs, conch chowder, and garlic shrimp; and judging from the empty plates, everyone enjoyed their meal as much as we did ours. For dessert, John insisted that the cocoanut tart was not to be missed, so each couple shared a slice. John was right!
I wanted to get a cookbook as a gift for my daughter, and it was fun to have Bobby address his autograph to her personally.
On the way over the traffic had been backed up in the other direction completely through the roundabout at Grand Marche in Philipsburg, so we had planned to go home through Grand Case and Marigot. But since we left at 9, David decided it probably wasn’t backed up any more, and we just came home through Philipsburg. No traffic at all, and we were home in half an hour.
I’ve developed a sore throat over the past couple of days, and it has me feeling crappy. After a halfway decent night’s sleep, we’re heading to Orient today. There are five ships in, so I think it will be Palm Beach. Not sure about lunch…last time we looked they had not changed their menu.
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