And so it starts to come to an end. The morning after the night before was a tough one for The Goddess and we didn't get to the beach until around 10:30. Our fellow guests were doing the P&P trip and were up early. I joined them around 7:30 for something to eat as Thierry had a spare omelette going. Then it was time to go downhill and talk to Pascal and Mallot for a time before bringing up The Goddess's morning offering. The Goddess, however, needed quite a bit of time before she could even think about eating, hence our late eventual arrival at the beach at Club O.

The subdued mood lasted for most of the morning. I'm in a depressed mood because we have to leave tomorrow and I could easily stay another week. I can tell myself that this isn't reality but as alternative realities go, this is pretty good if you ask me. It was a strange day on the beach too. The breeze wasn't much to speak of but there was a strong swell and there had been a lot of shifting of the sands with unexpected dips and rises in different spots from a few days ago. In the end, I didn't swim the beach as it would have seen me take too much salt water in the eyes. Yes, I wimped out, in other words.

Lunchtime came around quickly and we walked down the beach with the intention of bidding au revoir to Luc & Jean Claude before going for lunch at Ethnic. As it turned out, today was Ethnic's day for closing so we missed the opportunity to say goodbye to Frederick until next year. At Le String, things got emotional. We spent a lot of time talking with the guys and had lunch there. Lionel wished us well as did Stephanie from Sexy Fruits. However, the bright spot on the horizon came from the fact that we booked again for next year at Club F for the same two weeks in July and after tomorrow, we have some concrete dates to look forward to while the year to come brings what it will.

You will be astounded to learn that the afternoon consisted of successive bobbing and snoozing and reading. Suddenly it was 5 PM, the beach guys were collecting umbrellas and we had to say goodbye to another of our best friends -- the beach. I was dragging my feet as we walked back along to The Perch and up to our car as though to defer the dreadful moment when we would have to leave it behind for another year.

Back at Club F, there were two new sets of guests, one of which we had met the previous year and it was delightful to see them again, if only for a few hours. With the new arrivals came another Happy Hour, which took care of our dining needs for the night. I shared a really nice 2005 St Emillion Grand Cru and everyone was happy. And then The Gendarmerie showed up! Well, Gendarme Eric did, in full island uniform and dress kepi for some photographs that will never see the light of Facebook. All the girls love a man in uniform.

And now I contemplate a final swim before closing the chapter on the last full day of this wonderful vacation.