And relax we did. We swam, we shot the breeze with Chloe & Thierry, we met our fellow guests -- newly-weds from Florida -- and then ate some cheese and drank some wine after I made a foraging trip to Simply Market, picking up a reusable carrier bag at the same time, and then shot the breeze and drank some more. (SXMNorm, are you keeping up win this?)

After all this activity, Thierry emerged with platters of brochettes and three different sauces for our supper. The green peppercorn was especially good. More wine and a little fine tequila was shared before one final swim and then it was time to catch up on some zeds. Or zees, if you really must.

And so the ritual begins. I woke with the sun and reluctantly pulled on some clothes to head down to pick up The Goddess's morning offering. Thierry was already there and I joined him and his friends, a retired couple from Paris, for an espresso jolt before heading back up before the Goddess raised her ire. As soon as her feet hits the floor in the morning, she must eat something. I had been gone a while and wanted to keep my head on my shoulders. After breakfast, I enjoyed the outdoor shower and the breeze was shot some more.

So, 10AM or thereabouts sees us hitting the beach at Club O. Since we are here for almost two weeks, we head to the water sports section to arrange the long-stay option on the loungers and in the interest of reportage, here's the way it works: 2 loungers and an umbrella is usually $20 per day; they will sell you a week's worth of tickets for $120 which are valid for 9 days from the day of purchase; this means that you save a day's cost over 7 days and have 2 days grace if you want to do something else or go elsewhere during one of those days.

Once settled in, we quickly spotted Larry & Cleta (biturbo and Rabby here) and shoot some more breeze. Soon after that, I spotted another familiar face in the shapes of Ken and Rhonda (help me!), whom we had met at the same time last year. Even more breeze was duly shot. Then it was time for snoozing and reading and bobbing in the waves until the sun went over the yardarm. Before we got to this point however, we were starting to get concerned about the weather. It was rather windy when we arrived at the beach and the winds started getting stronger and gusting more, to the point where I wondered if we would have to start hanging on to the umbrella. By the time the aforementioned sun was over said yardarm the wind had abated quite a bit and it seemed safe to head down to the Perch for the first rum punch of the visit. The big guy behind the bar didn't look a bit like the wonderful Willy and her wily ways with the rum bottle we sadly missed as our drinks didn't try to kick us over to Green Key.

Fast forward an hour and The Goddess is feeling hungry and we start down the beach and hop over the rocks at Pedro's, heading for Ethnic. Andy and Cheryl's is looking pretty quiet. That's because it is closed. There's more space in front of Pedro's than last year, although that changed later in the afternoon as the tide started to come in. For lunch, I had a nice Salade Niceoise and The Goddess had a beef wrap and then we shared a Cafe Liegeoise ( kind of like an Italian affogatto). Back at the beach, it was time for my first serious swim of the trip. I walked over to Papagayo and swam to the only remaining swim platform. After catching my breath, I dived in and swam just about as far as the The Pearch (almost!) before walking back and collapsing while The Goddess asked if had been away. At that point, I realised that I had left my cap at Ethnic, so I went back down, learned that a cap is un casquette, not un chapeau and shot some more breeze with Frederick behind the bar while downing a Heineken. I suspect he is the owner but I'm prepared to be wrong. By the time I came back, having picked up an ankle bracelet for The Goddess, Happy Hour at The Perch had just finished, but I picked up 2BBCs ( still missing Willy's wily ways) all the same. The Goddess accepted this offering and still expressed surprise that I had gone way. Ah, me...

The afternoon went it's normal way: snooze, snooze; read, read; bob, bob until it was time to think about heading back up and get ready for the party. In the meantime, one of the things we reflect on was the fact that we hadn't been here for a year but we had slipped into the routine so quickly and so comfortably that it only seemed like a week since we were last there.

OK, Iain, I hear you say, all this cogitating is well and good but what's all this about a PARTY!!!???

Well, as it turns out, last Saturday was Thierry's birthday and today is mine, or was mine since it's now after midnight as I type this and even later as you read it. Chloe had invited the legendary Bill & Elaine and the aforementioned Larry & Cleta (have you been paying attention, folks?) for a soirée to celebrate our landmarks. Thierry was xx on Saturday and I just turned 32 this morning. Even then, I woke up wondering how I could have got so old. My nose, by the way, can now touch the opposite wall. Later we were join by Gendarme Eric and Luc & Jean-Claude from Le String, my new best friends.

So, dear readers ( you will have noticed that I use 'so' a lot) as Friday becomes Baron Samedi, I bid you all a good night. Or a good morning. Your choice.