TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Oh Paris for Breakfast

Really miss having Zafiro right at hand for breakfast, but found a great spot (sorry if someone has already called this out) called Oh Paris between the Sunset Beach Bar and The Sandbar. Had the Continental with scrambled, bacon, incredible potatoes and a small salad with a slice of French toast. Great coffee and juice of your choice come with. The Mrs. dish came with 3 mini pastries, and the chocolate croissant was delicious. They have tasty looking sandwiches for lunch, as well as many ala carte pastries to go. 4 or 5 tables inside and out. The gate attendant for the big parking lot will give you a pass that the restaurant will endorse for free parking.

Thanks for the post. I hadn't heard of this before. Definitely sounds like something we should check out next time. Gomer--are you at BSV??

Are you referring to what might be construed as being a French bakery? We saw it when we were there but never got around to trying it. It looked very nice but we didn’t realize they did breakfasts and we also missed the EZB breakfasts. So very convenient for BSV guests.

Yes Carol! Otherwise known as Home. Villa 1. By the way, completely remodeling #2 as I write. Was a bit loud when they stripped the tile, but very quiet since.
Lots of beach out front, but gotta watch the waves..periods of calm followed by a set of 3 or 4 big rollers. Also an unusual north breeze the last few days..actually a bit cooler than normal for early December (81 right now) and low humidity. Can see much detail on Saba, and can easily see Statia, St Kitts and Nevis. Lots of folks taking advantage of the closed El Zafiro..beaching there for the day. The savvy cruisers are walking the road to get away from the way overcrowded SSBB area. Navigating the road by there is challenging as many have written. A lady lost her balance standing on the wall between road and beach and fell right in front of us. I was crawling along so no issue getting stopped, but she banged herself up pretty good...it was a hard fall. She quickly had a lot of assistance.

Yes Pat! Exactly what we thought it was, as in one dimensional pastry shop..but friends staying at The Morgan raved about a full breakfast. It was great! I highly recommend. The French chef was very interested in how we liked our meals, and I promised I would toss out a much deserved bone.

I will absolutely keep it on the drawing board for April. I wonder what happened to Erica - I think that was her name - the waitress from EZB who usually worked the breakfast to lunch shift? She was always so very sweet and even offered to make our French toast out of a baguette if they had any left from the night before.

gomer--I'm jealous!! When we were there in June, they were replacing tile in one unit, can't remember which, and it looked like it was going to look very nice! Are they doing anything except re-tiling?

The road by Sunset is really hazardous. I am very nervous riding through there when there are ships in. People are often drunk and stupid and they walk in the middle of the road with no regard for their own safety.

The people that are hanging out on EL Z beach are cruise ship pax, do you think? I assume there are no chairs there or umbrellas, so they are laying on towels? Or are people bringing their own chairs and umbrellas??

Here's the link to Oh Paris bakery: https://www.ohparisxm.com/

Pat…we ran into Erica last month at Indigo Beach Restaurant. She has been working there as a waitress since El Zafiro closed. We got to know her with our stays at EZB. We got to chat for awhile and got caught up. Yes, she is a very warm, sweet lady.

TY, allgone - so often when situations such as occurred at EZB happen good people like Erica end up getting hurt in the crossfire. I’m glad she landed on her feet and I’m pretty sure in the long run she will do better than she would have at EZB. They just didn’t have enough restaurant patronage to do really well there.

Carol..looks like the standard remodel they've done from what I can see..the "big change" I've noticed was pointed out when we were doing the check-in walk thru..they leveled out that little drop off in the floor between the living area and the front area where the skylight and dining table sit. Yes, I would say it's cruisers that are hanging at Zafiro beach. No chairs, etc...just what they can carry. Zafiro was selling beach excursions to the cruise ships back when open, so perhaps picked up on it in a blog or something. I was in awe of the drivers that could get those full size busses back to Zafiro, especially with the folks that park their cars along that already narrow road. There's a really nice BMW parked along there all the time, and between the garbage trucks and the honey wagons that roll back and forth thru there, the owner must not have much regard for it.

Also..from just passed the Maho area, along the golf course and all the way to the road up to the medical college they have a very deep ditch dug for utility work. There are several new trenches across the road too, and they've just tossed dirt in the pavement cuts. The rain and traffic are rutting them, and you're left with a very sharp pavement transition that could easily blow a tire or bend a rim. Be careful if you're on island or about to be.

gomer--yes, I heard that also, leveling out that difference between those two areas. Being a person who has some mobility issues, I really appreciate how everything at BSV is pretty much on one level.

Makes sense that cruisers would come there to that beach, for free. It's a lovely beach.

ENJOY!!!!

I tripped on that transition last week while visiting a friend. I don 't get to visit BSV often, but I always trip over that.

Carol,
Since we went there a number of times in the last couple weeks I can confirm that there is no one offering chairs or umbrellas on this beach. The only people we saw and spoke to were staying at the new condos up on the ridge overlooking the beach and others staying in nearby homes like us.
We did not eat breakfast at Oh, Paris! but often walked up to get pastries and baguettes. Very friendly people.
Tom

Tom--thanks. I just thought it might make sense for Jessica (who is the owner of the property, as of now anyway) to offer chairs and umbrellas. I definitely will have to check out Oh Paris next year!!

Carol, I think you're right..she's definitely missing out on some potential income. We've noticed some catamaran excursions running people in to the beach on Zodiacs, and a few private boats too. Noticed a humorous trend while at Oh Paris yesterday...the busses were dropping off folks for their SSBB excursions, and many within minutes were over at the shelter where you queue up for a taxi back to the ship. Expectations not aligned with the reality? Beach looks much better today..the rocks are covered, so lots of chairs again...perhaps it will keep some out of the road.

SSBB is not very attractive with no sand, for sure and more sand is definitely safer.

I assume the parking lot for EL Z is locked? I assume people going there for the day have to find someplace to park and walk down the beach somewhere?

We did try the pastry at Oh Paris in November.
They were a little sweet for us, but may try their breakfast in the future.

I also noticed people on the beach at EZ, but very few.

One of the units at BSV did have a nice new floor, but ours was the same.without a problem.

I could not stop trying to step down/up in "our" unit#1 But there still a step up/down to the guest bathroom!! LOL!!! Have a great time!! BTW, we went to that lil shop after having an amazing breakfast at the Morgan, (SALT) and they were sold out of baggetts. 10am!! The owner offered to bake some if we wanted to wait! We thought that was very nice of him, but full from our lovely meal! Good to see that there are other options for breakfast nearby BSV!!

They are working on leveling that floor transition in all of the villas and also have received a truckload of new furniture for all the living areas. They have started at Villa #14 and working their way down. Changing the tile counters in the kitchen and bathrooms would be a nice upgrade. I love Beachside Villas, but travelling through that Maho Beach mess to get there is never a fun experience. Unfortunately that is a problem that will never be solved.😪

Elizabeth--The villas that we have stayed in recently have all had the tile counters in the kitchen replaced already. I thought they were all replaced by now, but I guess not. The last one we stayed in also had had the tub replaced. And going through Maho is a mess, for sure.