Flew out of Charlotte Friday- Airport was busy, flight delayed 20 minutes while we sat in line waiting to take off. Smooth flight,.Arrived and went thru the health check fairly quickly for the 2 planeloads of people in line. There was a worker walking down the line checking and approving the paperwork while the front of the line was also being checkered thru the 3 booths for the EHAS permission and test paperwork.,, Made the line move quickly.

Got our rental car thru La Playa Hotel. Was a small Kia- we had to jam our luggage in- barely enough room for the three of us and our suitcases. I thought i knew the way to Orient Bay from The Airport, that quickly turned out to be wrong and we were soon lost. Had to pull over and bring up Google maps and we were soon on our way. Marigot traffic was backed up as usual (4pm) , we finally made it thru and soon arrived at La Playa hotel.

i cannot brag enough about the staff here to do them justice, They have all been extremely polite, helpful and caring. The room is great, with a view of the ocean from our balcony, It is equipped with a small refrigerator, mini kitchen with flattop stove, sink ,pots and pans etc. There is ample closet space for us for the over abundance of clothes we brought.

We dined the first night in the village food court at Le Voile B.... (the name escapes me). Daughter had Lamb shank plate,wife had a Duck dish and i had a Mahi plate. All of it very good.. The owner was waiting the tables until about 7 until help arrived. Dessert was ice cream for me and a chocolate cake for the ladies.

Yesterday was a beach day. we went to the complimentary breakfast here at La playa. all of it very good, (especially the Chocolate Croissants- my first bread in 4 months of keto dieting)!. Then down to the beach for the day. Seaweed was of course there. -we just ignored it for the most part being delighted to be back at Orient bay, The beach was by no means crowded- we walked down to the former Pedros location and back. Very light population for a Saturday. No where near what we saw in July 2017. We had a few drinks and played in the water most of the day. And surprise of surprises we all got sun burned. my fault i forgot to have us all reapply Sunscreen after a couple hours.

Went to dinner at the village again, this time at Le Telegraphe. Again a really good meal- My daughter (bless her heart) got Le Bacon Cheeseburger. her comment was it was the only french she could read. My wife got a rib eye-with some potatoes that almost appeared to be a pastry. layers of potato and filling- very delicious. I got a piece of tuna that was also quite good. Desserts ice cream and a chocolate mousse. finished with a vanilla rum aperitif.

Our plan was to dine at La Piment but they appear to be on Vacation this week, Maybe they will be back Tuesday. We ate there 4 nights the last time we were here and every meal was fantastic.

The wait staff at both restaurants are all very attentive and courteous- trying to help me with my limited French. it's something i see with the Hotel staff also- very willing to help me practice my French.

Today is overcast and light rain this morning finally clearing off - another great breakfast at La Playa. Looks to be a day in the shade today until our sunburns ease a little. That means sitting in the bar and playing board games until lunch- .
...
A tout alors.,
Yrthstan.

Sounds like a lovely start! But keep that sunscreen handy!! Hopefully for your sake, Le Piment is not taking their annual vacation. Many places do so in August/September.. Enjoy!!

What a very nice start to your vacation and TY for sharing it.

Not knowing the severity of that sunburn, I did a number on my lower leg one trip and someone on TTOL suggested a trip to the nearest pharmacy to purchase an OTC salve called BIAFINE.

It is an incredible product and reduced the pain from my sunburn to a tolerable level almost immediately. To the best of my knowledge it’s not typically available here in the States though I understand it’s routinely used in hospital settings for radiation Burns.

Hope the rest of your trip goes well and again, TY for sharing so far.

BIAFINE is great stuff. I brought it back with me to have for emergencies and have put it to good use before.

Thanks for posting. We loved both Le Telegraphe & Le Piment on our recent trip. I hope the latter is open for you to enjoy, as once again it was the most enjoyable meal we had (speaking of duck breast).

Le Piment posted on there FB page: The pepper informs you there
Closing the restaurant from July 29 to end of September or beginning of October.... thank you all (July 28.2021)

Wow, closing two months. That would be a luxury in normal times. July this year had more people than any of the Junes in the past. I think they have a “baby high season” going on. I would think they would want to fatten up a bit. Who knows where this will all go heading into “real high season”.