It appears that the latest agreement was to leave the power on from 6PM<br>until 6AM and disrupt it during the day. Marigot's shops were shuttered<br>as we drove through at about 5:30 PM on Monday, 7 Jan but the power<br>did come on as we arrived in Grand Case. Most people that we talked to<br>said they were without power all day long. Theirry at Hibiscus was so<br>upset he didn't even want to talk. Cedric at Amandier Beach (a bar,<br>restaurant, boutique, and spa with a small swimming pool and long<br>beach) seemed in better spirits. Possibly this is the difference between<br>owning a small business and being a manager of a larger one. Cedric spends much of his day gathering food and ice, but his patrons can still enjoy drinks on the beach, and assuming he finds some food, they can be<br>fed. As there isn't much to do on the French side, sitting on the beach at<br>Amandier is now near the top of the list. So money is coming in and<br>life goes on. A bit further down the road is Calmos Café<br>(http://www.CalmosCafe.com or<br>http://www.GrandCase.com/calmoscafe). It's also a beach bar with an<br>even simpler menu. Valerie seemed in good spirits.<br><br>When we stopped in at Le Cottage (http://www.RestaurantLeCottage.com<br>), Bruno was having a discussion with a generator salesman. Afterwards, he told us that he was buying a bigger one for the restaurant. He had a small emergency one that kept the business open on New Year's (making 55 people very happy), but it was not enough to run the refrigeration, so he lost a considerable amount of foie gras, pheasant, etc. In<br>addition, he took 20% off every patron's bill. Nonetheless, he said life was<br>beautiful, his children were wonderful, and his wife is beautiful. If<br>you ever need cheering up, here is a man who can do it! After that,<br>he can serve some of the best food in the Caribbean and Stéphane can<br>pour you the perfect wine.<br><br>Most restaurants in Grand Case were open but there were few patrons,<br>although at 7:30PM this was a bit early, especially for the French.<br>La Marine (http://www.RestaurantLaMarine.com) has opened with a new chef and a new menu. It is focused on fish and a bit cheaper. There is lamb, prime rib, and duck breast, but the basic approach is a mixture of<br>grilled fish. There are four different combinations essentially, the<br>three fishing areas of France (Brittany, Gascony, the Med) and one<br>for the islands. Sounds good, more later. Rainbow was closed, but had had a large party on Sunday, their normal day off, and closed on Monday instead.<br><br>We decided to eat light and drove back to the Airport. Just across<br>the street, next to the Yummie Terrace, Lal runs an Indian Restaurant in<br>three separate buildings. He watches over everything from the bar in<br>the middle. The kitchen is to his right and a covered dining area on the<br>lagoon is to his left. If you like Indian food, this is hard to beat.<br>Great prices and great views across the lagoon. We had two onion<br>kulcha breads and two main courses with three Leffe dark Belgian beers for a mere $30. We took home some bread and part of Martha's dinner for a<br>great lunch the next day.<br><br>On Wednesday we did return to La Marine and had one of the fish<br>dinners cooked at the table on a hot rock. It is an open air restaurant so<br>the fish odor flies out the windows and leaves behind quite tasty fish<br>with three sauces and more side dishes than anyone should eat. Martha's<br>fish came with an interesting tuna appetizer and I had the marinated<br>salmon. Both were perfect despite all the troubles here in Saint Martin. I<br>had venison and fois gras in a very tasty mushroom sauce. There was a<br>side of scalloped potatoes topped with quill pasta and pesto. Surely a<br>low-cal entry. A bottle of 97 Volnay was light enough for the fish<br>but also went well with the venison. The prices are up on the website,<br>but most entrees are under $20, which is moderate by Grand Case<br>standards.<br><br>By Friday (11 Jan) it appears that the power on the French side is<br>working fulltime as negotiations continue in Guadaloupe. The municipal unions (garbagemen, cafeteria workers, etc) are doing a two day action next week. The weather is great. Many tourists have left the French hotels for the Dutch side, so our friends in Dutch side restaurants are having a good time.<br><br>SXM-Info.com is giving away a week in St Martin. The<br>rules are here: http://www.SXM-Info.com/contest.html.<br><br><br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 1/22/02 03:59 PM.</EM></FONT></P>