This was our 6th visit to St. Martin and the first two week vacation there. Two weeks was the best! Nothing compares to getting off that plane in St. Martin and feeling that warm air and just feeling like we are HOME! Especially after the winter we have had here in Maine. 14 more inches last night! It won't melt until July by the looks of things outside. Anyway, Alan Arnell (who we rent from every year) met us outside and we were off in our rental car within minutes. We had asked him for a bigger car since we had friends coming with us this time for both weeks and he came through for us with a Mitsubishi space wagon which was big enough for all of us (5 the first week and 6 people the second week) plus all our luggage. It was great! We stayed at our timeshare at Oyster Bay and had a great unit overlooking the pool and ocean. The pool is finished and is wonderful! We were very happy with the service and accommodations at Oyster Bay. We had some wonderful meals on the island both weeks. Our favorite place still is Le Piccollo both for quality of the food and price. Plus I am partial to the cute waiters there (especially the dark haired guy with the great smile!) so we ended up there twice and loved both meals. We did have dinner at Le Cottage in Grand Case for the first time rather than going to L'Alabama like we always do and absolutely loved Le Cottage. The people there are very friendly and warm and the food was really great. Another restaurant that is worth mentioning is Poulet d'Orleans on the road from Orleans to Orient Beach across from the beautiful stone church on the hill. We had read about it in one of the books and decided to try it and were very happy we did. We sat out on their porch and talked with the family that owns it. She is from Minnesota, her husband/chef is from St. Martin and their daughter who served us is the current winner of the island beauty pageants. They were so nice and the food was good and reasonable. We also went to the lolos (the crab backs are great!), Don Camillo's, Captain Oliver's, Le Planteur, Tropicana (disappointed with this one this year, last year had a good meal there), Il Nettuno (the little girls of our friends like pasta) and some of the beach bars. It amazed us on how good some of the beach bars are, especially the one right near the boat landing on Pinel and Friar's Beach Bar. Both excellent for being on a beach! We did some touring of the island and noticed some good changes. Never had any problems with crime whatsoever but then we are careful and never leave anything in the car. We did notice more police presence and that was more comforting than alarming. We actually had to go through a roadblock on our way home one night and had to get out of the car while the police searched our car. That was a first for us but they had them set up on both sides of the island at the borders that night from what we hear looking for drugs, guns and apparently some Haitans that had escaped from a warehouse. They were very nice and we had no problems but it made us a little nervous. They even had a helicopter overhead with a spotlight. There was an article about it the next day in the local paper. We went to the Marina in Marigot on both Thursday nights for their outside events and dinner and that is always fun to do. Went to Pinel twice and it is always nice out there. Chuck said the snorkeling was good if you went out around the corner of the island away from the beach areas. He also found the snorkeling good off Friar's Beach. Saw lots of sea urchins over there. Didn't get over to Orient Beach as much as usual but when we were there it was crazy as always. The best beach to walk! We had some rain over the two weeks but it didn't stay long and it made everything green so we didn't complain. Anything was better than snow! We sat at the Sunset Beach Bar one afternoon and had lunch to watch the planes come in and got a great picture of the Air France coming in over the beach. We were amazed at how many internet places there are on the island now and had no problems finding one to write home. Used the one on the airport road at the FedEx office most of the time because we were there alot it seemed dropping off friends and picking up friends at the airport. Bought more Tanzanite and a watch at Goldfinger in Philipsburg from the guy we always buy from every year. Had lunch at the Greenhouse and watched all the cruise ship people going back to their ships. The one thing we did notice is how much traffic there is these days on St. Martin. Marigot is a nightmare at certain times of the day to get through. But we still love the island and the people and the food and beaches, etc. etc. and cannot wait to go back to our second home next year! It can't come soon enough! <br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 4/13/01 04:31 PM.</EM></FONT></P>