Returned a few days ago from three weeks on our favorite place. Carol and I stayed at Villa Ester in Orient Village and spent most of our time on Orient Beach. We had rain only 1 day and the island looks desolate due to the lack of rain. The traffic was heavy as usual and there is quite a few detours around Marigot. Visited with friends a few times and made the usual shopping trips into Marigot and Philipsburg. Also took over 1000 photos which will help illustrate the dozen or so stories that I will be writing. For those who know, or know of, Bernadine Ali, I made a visit with her and her friends. I posted the first of two stories on my blog this morning and you can read it here: https://lifewithldub.blogspot.com

Nice writings Biglar you are one talented guy!

Great blog posts! How did you like Villa Ester? I've got it on my list as a possible rental. I can't tell how big the pool is by the pictures. I don't expect it to be an olympic size, but I was curious about the depth of it.

Thanks for the blog! Looking forward to reading more in future days. Where is the villa in reference to the Village and how far to the beach? Which part of the beach is closest to it?

The villa was about 2 blocks from the restaurants. Easy and safe walk both day and night. Walked in for breakfast croissants at either Good Morning or Yellow Sub and walked in to the Petit Casino when I needed something. As you go around the round-a-bout and head toward the ocean and where all the restaurants are located, I turned right just before the Asian restaurant. Same road you would turn on if you had stayed at the Alamanda when it was still in business. The pool is about shoulder deep all over; provided you are almost 6 feet tall. Maybe 10 feet wide and twice that in length. Not for swimming laps unless you like to do a lot of turns. There was construction all around us with plenty of pounding during the day. The workers arrived at 7:30 am and worked with long sleeves and long pants in all that heat until 3:30 pm. We saw three other villas that were occupied in the block we were in.

Thanks for the info

Awesome! Thanks for all the info. I'm gonna put it at the top of the list now.

Thanks for the interesting blog! Looking forward to more.