Hello!

It's my first time posting on this forum. I discovered TTOL when I searched for news on Saint Martin after hurricane Irma. It became almost a daily habit of mine to read it before going to sleep. My parents-in-law have a timeshare in Sapphire Beach Club Resort. They've been going to Saint Martin every January for 20 years. They kindly invited us several times to join them. My husband and I went to Saint Martin in January and had a great time.

I want to thank everyone on this forum for their trip reports and wealth of information on restaurants, beaches and overall state of things. Reading TTOL made me confident that it was time to go back to Saint Martin and that the island was ready for tourists.

We had such a wonderful time during our 10 day stay on the island! Besides not being able to go to Le Galion beach and a few of our favorite restaurants this trip was as enjoyable as the trips we took before Irma. It was so good to be back!

I did several blog posts on Saint Martin in 2019. Here are the links to the posts on supermarkets and bakeries:

https://www.giselleayupova.com/blog/2019/2/13/saint-martin-2019-part-i-supermarkets-and-bakeries

on restaurants we visited:

https://www.giselleayupova.com/blog/2019/2/8/saint-martin-2019-part-i-restaurants

Interesting food choices. Looked tasty.

Outstanding photos. Thank you.

I like your paintings.

Ok, and don't shoot the messenger but since you stayed on the Dutch side and apparently mostly ate on the Dutch side it would be Sint Maarten. The title of your blog would imply the French side. If that is what you meant to do, apologies.

I noticed the same but didn't want to be the messenger.

Great pictures and very nice blog that I enjoyed reading.
Regarding the Le Muolin fou- we ate there once this February and the quality of food and service isn’t nearly as good as it was before. Apparently, the place has changed hands a few times in the last two years and most of the “old” staff haven’t come back... It was one of our favourite places before but not anymore...

Funny about Moulin Fou....only ate there once in 2006. But the ....I assume, the maitre'D is the same guy from way back. At least he's stayed on. Nice personable guy.

I really enjoyed your blog and pictures. I ate breakfast at Cape Cafe in June and had a crepe. I liked the atmosphere and cleanliness of the place but thought the crepe made for an extremely light breakfast; I was hungry again in an hour. I also had the duck shepherd's pie at Le Moulin Fou and loved it but gave half to a friend for lunch as I was leaving the island the next day. Their salads are meals unto themselves. I also had the fixed-price lunch at Sol e Luna with friends. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your entree as I have enjoyed everything I've had there.

Great reporting! Thanks for taking the time. I sent you a private message but will ask it here. What is the platform your blog is on? I couldn't find a name anywhere.

Thank you for your comments and input!

I guess I should have named my post on restaurants Sint Maarten trip report. I like both the Dutch and the French side of the island but I tend to type Saint Martin for some reason, just an oversight on my part.

We enjoyed everything we ate in Moulin Fou, I can only imagine how great the restaurant was before Irma!

Don’t worry about the gramma Nazi here, you can call/name this island any way you want - I’m sure everybody understands! Lol!!!
Please continue with your observation blog, I enjoyed reading it very much and your pictures are superb.
Спасибо!

Wow, what great report and vivid photos! You must have a 1000 megapixel camera. Would that be a billion pixels.

We will try Mario’s Bistrot for sure next time.

Thanks for a great report with fantastic photos. Just makes me want to book a plane and head down to SXM just to dine on all the great food and wonderful restaurants. You guys certainly enjoyed yourselves and I am sure it won't be long before you are back! One of the best reports I have read on this forum, and there are many posters who also do great reports. I am surprised Carol has not commented as she loves trip reports and especially food photos.

Great trip report and photos! Thank you for the detail. I think that Mario's Bistro and Anse Marcel are definitely on our list for our upcoming trip.

Thanks for sharing... 🌴

Thanks for the photos of Monoprix. I had asked this forum about it but no one seemed to know. Only reply I got said it was a small health food store. But t looks grander than that.

Thank you for complimenting my blog and photos!

Monoprix is pretty large but it was never crowded there, nice to browse and buy what you need. There used to be a small Mono'P which we stopped by in the past to buy fresh truffle cheese and ham in the deli section. The building is still standing but it wasn't open in January unfortunately.