Bigdaddy--why specifically do you recommend a cab? just curious, as to whether you've had a bad experience with renting a car, etc?
A little off topic but not really.
One of our very first catamaran trips to StB many, many years ago, 30 to 35 years, at least, we rented a minimoke and had a ball exploring the island with it. We went to every beach we could find and had a great day there.
A couple years later we flew over with friends and rented a car at the airport. (I think by then the Mokes were a thing of the past as far as rentals went.) We got into our car and when DH started it he realized the gas gauge registered empty so he went back to the Hertz counter and told them it was out of gas. My DH speaks no French and understands even less and unfortunately, the young lady working the counter didn’t speak much more English, or at least, that’s what we thought at the time. She did understand what we were saying though and pointed to a gas station slightly down the road and we got her drift.
We pulled up to the pump and asked the attendant for $5.00 worth of gas to which he replied, “Oui.” Now I know that doesn’t sound like a lot of gas by todays standards, but all those many years ago it was okay and we knew we were only on the tiny island for a few hours. The attendant kept pumping and John leaned out the window and told him again, “$5.00 please.” About the third time DH reminded him he clicked off the pump and came up to the window and told us, $20.00 s’il vous plait!”
We were all livid but what can you do?
Because of the language barriers we couldn't even argue the matter effectively so we gave up, paid him and went on our way. We came to the conclusion this was probably a racket they used on unsuspecting non-French speaking tourists, possibly on a regular basis. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if, when we returned the car to the airport at the end of our day, they syphoned off the extra $15.00 worth of gas and returned the gauge to empty status again for the next unsuspecting soul that came their way and filled their own cars this way routinely. It was just ‘one of those things’ that over the years we’ve laughed over many times. Live and learn, right?
