Not sure there is a whole lot there that is surprising to those here..

For sure.

Tomorrow would be my last day on the island for this trip, and I feel the same. I stay on the dutch side. It is both a bless and curse. On my arrival, there was no way to travel to the French side, so I was glad that I booked a place on the dutch side. However, in the past few days, I kept traveling to the French side for the beaches, and those barricades made my driving less enjoyable, so far the Orleans quarter is still blocked, and I don't know if someone is gonna clear the road. I think the cruises also skipped St Martin recently? I really didn't see many people on the beach no matter where I went. It's sad.

Yes it's rough at a very bad time .

Pretty much covered on lots of posts but a good read.

We just finished 10 days in Orient Bay area and had a great time, other that getting there Thursday 12/12. Took us 3 hours going via Pburg and Oyster Pond quite an adventure getting through Orleans but a friendly local helped us. Yesterday 12/22 we had no problems at all driving through Marigot and Bellevue area to the airport. It took maybe 40 minutes at around 10AM (Sunday). Just some typical slowness in Marigot downtown.

So I would say come and enjoy the French side! Orient Beach was beautiful as always and the Village was mostly open.