Wednesday started off cloudy, but after breakfast on the balcony we headed to Palm Beach anyway. The weather didn’t really improve much, but it didn’t rain and the wind wasn’t too bad. Walks on the beach reflected the number of cruise ships in port, including the huge Oasis; Palm Beach, however, is quiet in spite of the crowds.
For lunch I had their mussels, which had just come in that morning, in a creamy meuniere sauce. They were huge, and the sauce was fabulous. Served with real French fries and bread to soak up the sauce, they were delicious. David had the sea bass, served with an anise butter sauce and various garnishes. We had a bottle of Sancerre to accompany the meals, and, as always, “it gets no better”.
We headed back to the room early, as clouds were rolling in and rain was inevitable. We had planned on having dinner at 3 Palms and listening to Guitar Jim, and then meeting Elaine at Royal Palm for a drink and to see Gianfranco, but the mussels (or something) resulted in a killer case of heartburn, and I was in no condition to go anywhere.
Thursday dawned very cloudy and it had obviously rained hard overnight. We had already decided to hang around the unit today. We drove to Le Sucriere for breakfast; I had quiche and David a pineapple Danish, with the best looking cappuccino I have seen. Around 10:30 the clouds moved out and the rest of the day was gorgeous.
Late Thursday afternoon, we headed over to Grand Case, where we attended the perfume class at Tijon. John and Cyndi are great people, and their shop is fabulous. John explained the history of perfume to us and our classmates, and we headed into the lab to create our own scents. I was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number and type of oils available to use, but John patiently worked with each of us, and while I didn’t realize it while I was there, I absolutely love “Citrus Grove”, the end result of many formula experiments. David’s 987C (named for the production model of his car) is more complex and also quite nice, but I actually like mine better! (John will be surprised to read this, as I initially wanted to name my scent “Frustration”). Once our scents were created, John calculated the correct proportion of each oil to create a full-sized bottle, and we counted drop after drop of each oil out into our beakers, mixed them with the proper amount of water and alcohol, and funneled them into the beautiful glass bottles. Then John applied the labels with our scent’s name, our name, and the date. Not only did we leave with a one-of-a-kind creation, but also with a memory to last a lifetime. After the class we enjoyed a glass of champagne, and we were each presented with a fabulous gift bag, that included a certificate of achievement, a press release announcing the creation of our scent, a full-sized bottle of our favorite Tijon fragrance, a Tijon t-shirt, and samples of some of their other products. What a fabulous experience!
After class, we walked across the street for dinner at Spiga. After a Bellini for me and a Pomegranate martini for David, we shared their fabulous lobster ravioli. The homemade raviolis are filled with a fabulous lobster mousse, and swimming in a vanilla-bean saffron cream sauce, which David wiped up with the bread to our waiter’s amusement. For our main courses, David had their veal special and I had the Chioppino. David’s veal breast was pounded and then wrapped around a priscuitto and mushroom duxelle filling, roasted, and then sliced into rounds about two inches tall. These were presented atop a bed of mashed potato, with sautéed veggies and a veal reduction sauce. What little he was willing to share with me was delicious. My chioppino included fish, teeny clams, squid rings and shrimp in a seafood broth with tomatoes and snow peas. Everything was perfectly cooked, but I would have preferred a more highly seasoned dish. After our entrees we were both too full for either dessert or coffee so we headed home.
Friday morning begins our last full day on the island. The sky is clearer than it has been for a couple of days, and there’s still a strong breeze. We headed over to Orient to spend the day at Kakao. There are no ships in port today, and Orient is much quieter than usual. We shared a pizza for lunch, and left around 4, after a perfect last day on the beach.
Traffic is much worse today, and it took us almost an hour to get to Grand Case for our 7 PM reservation at L’Estaminet, where Carole greeted us with a smile and our special corner table. They are fairly busy, and I joked with David that it was because of my review of last week’s meal. We shared their tasting plate appetizer, which consisted of a small peeled tomato stuffed with goat cheese, asparagus mousse with goat cheese and apple and ginger “caviar”, a small salad dressed with a ginger vinaigrette topped with an orchid topped with teeny dab of a fig jam, and a spoon of ginger sorbet. I’ve never eaten an orchid before, and it was quite unique. All of the flavors carried from one element of the dish to the next. Again Carole selected the appropriate wine for each course, and an unoaked Chardonnay was chosen to go with the appetizer. For the main course, I had the salmon special, which was tournedos of salmon coated with quinoa, cooked perfectly medium-rare, served with a wonderful sauce and of course, my favorites, the French veggie preparations on the side. There was also a very flavorful jasmine rice. David ordered the duck, which arrived perfectly rare, with a delicious balsamic and cocoa sauce, and again the wonderful veggies. My wine selection was a French Chablis blend, and David’s a Pinot Noir. For dessert we shared the Green Tea, which consisted of a delicious green tea mousse topped with wasabi caramel (really!), and a pineapple gespacho. Carole presented the dessert with two glasses of French Sauternes, which of course complemented the dessert perfectly. After espresso and the complimentary tiramisu shots we were ready to leave, with three full hours having just flown by while we were enjoying our fabulous experience. As we left I asked Carole to compliment Ina on the fabulous foods, and we were treated to a quick visit with the talented chef, who is quite modest about her accomplishments. You can clearly see how much she loves what she does. The evening was the perfect ending to our vacation, and I can’t wait to visit again next year.
.
