TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) SXM Trip Reports and Photos Master Shake 2008 Trip Report (April 6 - 13)

This was our second trip to St. Martin in as many years. We flew direct on United from Washington Dulles which was really great. No problems whatsoever. We arrived at around 1:45 on Sunday and were met by a representative from Unity Car Rental. Michael was kind enough to give us his low season rate for the week even though we were technically still within the high season according to the rates on his site.

We eventually arrived at the Doves Nest Apartments in Grand Case and moved our stuff in for the week. The view is really great and the owners are very nice (Suzy and Emile). We decided to head down to Calmos Café for happy hour. When we got back to the room we both crashed hard and didn’t wake up until 9:30 so we decided to just hit the Lolos for dinner.

Monday: We started a ritual of walking down to Zen It each morning for coffee. They have free WiFi so I was able to check my email and keep up with the Yankees scores from the previous night all week long. After coffee it was on to Orient . It was a little windy, but not as bad as some had reported the previous week. Spent the day at Waikiki, and then our late afternoon ritual of Calmos Café for happy hour . For dinner we went to Restaurant Du Soleil in Grand Case. Much to our dismay, we discovered they no longer have French Onion Soup on their menu. I was a little disappointed with my rather poor cut of Ribeye although it was at least smothered in a nice peppercorn sauce. On the brighter side, Mrs. Shake really enjoyed her fish cauldron.

Tuesday: Drove to Friars Bay for the day . It was still a little windy in Grand Case but for whatever reason there was barely any wind on Friars. After a couple of hours on Friars we decided to make the hike over to Happy Bay. No problems along the way. Happy Bay is simply one of the most beautiful places on earth once the sun begins to set . We found a nice quiet corner of the beach and had it all to ourselves. After taking lots of pictures we hiked back to Friars and called it a day. Found out by accident that it was “Harmony Nights” night in Grand Case, so we walked and checked out the sites for a bit and then ate at Le Pressoir which was good, but I wouldn’t say great. Mrs. Shake agreed. Great service and great wine though.

Wednesday: Back to Orient. This time we tried the other end of the beach and set up camp in front of Baywatch . Didn’t like it as much as Waikiki but still a great day at the beach. That evening we ate at Le Ti Provencal [img]http://thumb9.webshots.net/t/69/469/6/17/77/2982617770056952809dwrkYa_th.jpg[/img]. This place sets the standard for Grand Case restaurants. Simply amazing food. I had the tenderloin and Mrs. Shake had the trunkfish. Both were excellent. For dinner we had the homemade chocolate cake [img]http://thumb9.webshots.net/t/58/658/2/89/76/2161289760056952809jBxlIq_th.jpg[/img] which should be illegal it's so good.

Thursday: Drove to Baie Rouge. I love the soft sand at this beach. [img]http://thumb9.webshots.net/t/52/652/4/34/50/2510434500056952809sGqBWc_th.jpg[/img] Your feet just sink right down into it. The water was a little rough but also pretty warm. Very nice day at the beach and we decided to hit Sunset Beach Bar [img]http://thumb9.webshots.net/t/66/666/4/46/63/2389446630056952809NQtsOO_th.jpg[/img] for happy hour since we were not too far from the Dutch side. For dinner that night, our hosts at the Doves Nest had their weekly barbecue. We met some really nice people from Boston. I neglected to mention to them that I’m a Yankee fan. Later that night we hit Calmos for their live Salsa night.

Friday: Rain! Literally about 20 minutes after we got to Orient it started to rain. So we hung out at the bar at Waikiki for a while until it died down, but the day was pretty much lost. For dinner we went to L'auberbe Gourmande. I had a really good bowl of French Onion Soup and a nice filet. We decided to check out Boo Boo Jams later that night. Not really our scene, but people definitely have a good time there. We had a couple of drinks and called it a night.

Saturday: Decided to spend our final day on Orient at Waikiki again. We just like the vibe there best out of all of the Orient spots. For dinner we went back to Le Ti Provencal. Another amazing dinner, and we were off to Bliss. [img]http://thumb9.webshots.net/t/58/758/2/65/16/2924265160056952809WYxyih_th.jpg[/img] DJ was pretty awful but we had a good time. We were both pretty full from our meal so we didn’t stay too late.

Sunday: Lunch at the Lolos [img]http://thumb9.webshots.net/t/58/658/4/87/44/2285487440056952809FGESfc_th.jpg[/img] and it was off to the airport.

The week went by so fast. Can’t believe it’s over already. Some random observations and thoughts:

We walked to dinner in Grand Case every night and never felt unsafe. We walked to Happy Bay from Friars and drove from the French to Dutch side (and back to the French side) late at night with absolutely no problems. My point is that the "crime on St. Martin" issue is really overblown. The only thing out of control are the reactionary and alarmist crime threads that appear on travel sites when unfortunate but isolated incidents occur.

Zen It and Calmos Café in Grand Case offer free WiFi

Exchange rate is rough, and few places aside from the Lolos are doing a one for one dollar for Euro exchange. I can’t say I blame them. The exchange rate was $1.57 while we were there.

It was pretty windy all week but not as bad as we had been reading from earlier trip reports. Like I mentioned, you may want to check out Friars or Baie Rouge if it is windy while you are there. Both were less windy than Orient.

DIF is already setting in. Back to work tomorrow <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

Our entire 2008 St. Martin album can be viewed here: http://travel.webshots.com/album/563103859GOYiOL?vhost=travel