Trip report 8/17 through 8/27 2002<br><br>8/17 – Leaving JFK<br>We arrived at the airport the required 2 hours ahead. No problem with the tickets or our seats and we were off to the security checkpoint. Emptying everything from our pockets, we placed the carry-on’s on the belt, placed our hands at our sides and proceeded one by one through the machine. Debora was in front of me and while I was wondering if I had anything on that would sound the alarm, Deb stepped through. Beep Beep Beep! The guard blocks my forward motion and Deb’s return motion. “Female security!” he calls. “Female security!” When the female shows up, she asks if Deb is traveling alone. Deb explains that she’s with me (only a really brave woman would do that in a situation like this) and I’m told to watch the bags while she escorts Debora to another area. They wand her shoes which causes another series of Beeps. “Shoe runner!” and the shoes are whisked away. They ask to see the bottom of her feet. Deb then is instructed to stand on a blue mat in a spread-eagle position and the wand is passed everywhere (accent on the every) over her from head to toe. Deb’s underwire bra creates another series of Beeps and the female agent “pats her down” (more like “feels her up”) to make sure it’s just the underwire that’s causing the problem. Normally, I would have made some attempt at saying something humorous at a time like this, but nobody (Deb included) looked like they were in a joking mood.<br>We did finally clear security. We boarded our flight and by 8:45 we were ready for take-off. Forty-five minutes late is certainly close enough to call it on time. The flight was uneventful, which given the state of the world is a good thing and we landed amidst a sun shower in paradise.<br>They had run out of those white forms on board that assure the government we’re not smugglers but I managed to scribble the info in while we waited on line. We got through customs in no time, got our Hertz forms filled out, picked up our luggage and found the courtesy van for the three minute ride to the depot. They gave us a Kia Rio which the guy said was “brand new” but he must have been exaggerating. The passing rain had subsided and we were off.<br>We arrived at Green Cay Village and were shown to Villa #7 around 3 PM. This is truly a wonderful place – once you figure out how to find your way around. There are doors everywhere and the living room/kitchen area is separated from the bedrooms. The two king-size bedrooms are six steps down from the baths and everything else.<br>Speaking of steps…for those of you who’ve never seen the villas, I’m not sure they’re all like #7 (called soualiga which I’m told means salt land) but the first impression we got was the 38 steps that led from the parking area to the front door. Now our luggage is on wheels (isn’t everybody’s?) but wheels don’t work very well on stairs. Now, I’m no wimp but neither am I Charles Atlas and carrying our two 25” Pullman cases didn’t seem like an option so I dragged them, bumping all the way, one by one, up to the main level and then down the 6 steps to the bedroom. Counting all the steps and all the trips, that was 176 steps! Needless to say, I was sweating bullets and immediately jumped into the private plunge pool.<br>After cooling off, we made our obligatory calls home and headed right for Bikini Beach for an early dinner. Excellent burgers and fries though it seemed a bit quiet for a Saturday evening. Total with tip = around $45 then we went back to the villa for some much needed rest. Travel days always wear us out.<br><br>8/18 – First day<br>Off to Le Croissanterie (sp?) in Marigot for breakfast. Marigot on Sunday is very quiet, but the ambiance is still wonderful and the crepe specials were as wonderful as we remembered. Last year we were corralled by a local on a scooter over near Mullet who offered us scratch-off chances. We knew it was a timeshare promo but he got so excited when we hit the jackpot that I wondered if we were jaded from living in New York where, if it sounds too good to be true, it definitely is. Well, this morning in Marigot, we got our answer. Another local, another pair of tickets, a different timeshare facility, but the same act – another 1st prize jackpot. We had our breakfast – with the tip around $25 and drove into P’burg, but since there were no ships in port, everything was closed. Back to GCV and the pool and then a trip to La Playa Beach where GCV guests get free chairs and umbrellas. The water was perfect – warm enough to be inviting, cool enough to be refreshing.<br>Dinner was at Le Tastevin – as wonderful as we remembered from last year, though I should have sprayed my legs with the Off we’d brought along thanks to all the remarks on TTOL. While we were feasting on shrimp and scallops St. Jacques and a special swordfish entrée, the skeeters were feasting on me (the little ankle biters really pigged out). They ruined any chance of coffee and dessert – though I’m not sure there would have been room. Total $150 w/drinks and tip.<br><br>8/19 – Shopping<br>We needed to have some jewelry repair work done and we needed to acquire more (of course) so we went immediately to Touch of Gold. Once again, it was immediately obvious why Heeru and company have been voted best jewelry store on the island for two years.<br>We stopped at L’Escargot for lunch where Vernon showed us some noteworthy hospitality. I had quiche and salad, Deb had a seafood crepe and a quavaberry colada. With my Amsterdam beer and the tip around $40. A bit more shopping and we were heading back north.<br>I must note that GCV is truly a first class operation. There’s plenty of room – for 2 people, it’s almost too big (not that that’s possible). The common area comprising the living room, 2 al fresco eating areas and the galley kitchen are huge. The master bedroom suite has everything but good TV reception. Although we had been told that we would get HBO, CNN, and I think TNT, the only stations clear enough to watch or listen to were TV Guadeloupe and Tempo. It’s always fun hanging around pretending we understand French.<br>I suppose the most outstanding part of the villa is the privacy. It’s unbelievable! Owning a home here couldn’t be much better. And, add to everything else a private pool which they call a plunge pool. If you’re familiar with the extra deep tubs the Poconos call plunge pools, you’re not ready for GCV. Don’t get me wrong, this is no Olympic pool but it’s plenty big enough for two adults.<br>Before I move on I must complement the cleanliness of the villa. The place was spotless! The glasses were sparkling. The kitchen equipment was clean enough to eat off (the pun is intended). As I said at the beginning of this testimonial, this is really a first class place. If you get the chance, try it. You won’t be disappointed. You might be exhausted from the stairs, but it is fantastic. We’ve got to thank Ed Roman of Caribbean Islands Travel Service for guiding us to GCV. We recommend him to everyone.<br>We wanted to try another one of the Orient Beach Bars, but, as this is slow season, nobody was seating after six so we drove down to Banana’s. Deb had the stuffed ‘shrooms and shrimp blimps – both exquisite. I had a cheeseburger with a Heineken in those damn pony bottles (three sips and you’re ordering another). With the tip, $35 and we had the whole dining room to ourselves.<br><br>8/20 – Beach Day! Yea!<br>Bridgette at GCV told us about a small superette near Bikini Beach where we picked up some ice for our cooler and we parked by Pedro’s. Moments later we were picking out two chaises and a yellow umberella. For those of you interested in the off season, the beach was occupied but not crowded. There must have been a ship in port because the walker-gawkers were there but at least none of them had black socks on.<br>We went to Papagayo’s for lunch. If you haven’t tried the Club Orient sandwich on baguette, you’re missing one heck of a lunch. Deb had a BLT with a frozen margarita. Add my two Bud’s and a tip for around $40.<br>It was exceptionally windy but the water was wonderful. There were what I’d call angel fish and trumpet fish in the shallows and white caps breaking out near the point - Paradise, or at least as close as we mere mortals are likely to experience in this lifetime.<br>A brief shower rolled in out of the east and tossed the umbrellas around, but it was soon over and the people returned to the water.<br>We cooked in tonight – another benefit of having the villa instead of a hotel room – and enjoyed an evening in and by the pool.<br>For those of you interested in the construction on Orient, it’s still going on. Though the cranes did effect the view, none of it detracted from our enjoying mornings or evenings on the terrace overlooking the bay beyond the pool.<br><br>8/21 – Market Day<br>We planned a trip to the market in Marigot and then a drive up to Cul de Sac and Anse Marcel (all of which we missed last year). It was overcast, so we figured, “No beach.”<br>Had breakfast at Zee Best – exquisite pastries! The eggs benedict were ok but the 3-cheese omelet was really salty. And while we were there, the weather changed for the better. We did a little shopping and headed for the beach. On the way, we stopped by at Minguet’s Gallery. His daughter was very helpful and made us wish we had been lucky enough to have met the artist himself. Unfortunately, Minguet’s palette doesn’t fit our décor and we’ve, instead been collecting Doris Schroeder for our little piece of St. Martin. When you live on one island and have fallen in love with another I suppose you start decorating your house as a compromise between the two. <br>We buzzed down to La Playa, grabbed 2 chairs right near the water and jumped into the surf. There were waves today – real rollers, almost ride-able, if they’d had a bit longer duration. I forgot to mention that the last time we were here there was a chance for us to show our better side. A child with “swimmies” on her arms had wondered out a bit too far. She was only about 4 feet away when she caught our eyes. With a look of terror on her face, she called, “Mama,” and went under. We both instinctively lunged for her raised hand. Lifting her up, I asked, “Where’s your Mom?” By the look on her face, it was obvious that that didn’t really get communicated, so I switched to my best high school French. “Ou est Mama?” Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to work much better. As we escorted her into the shallows, it became obvious that “Mama” was lying in the sand at the water’s edge and seemed totally unconcerned with the goings-on. As the little girl found her footing and ran up the shore crying, we sort of expected a wave or a “Thank you” gesture. Sorry, that wasn’t happening. Oh well, no matter, we were pretty proud of our life-saving tactics and promptly patted each other on the back.<br>The waves gave us a workout and shortly we were thinking of dinner. The manager at La Playa said they were closing around 4 PM so we considered other dinner plans. We made a phone call to Dario’s, but they seem to be gone. So we drove into Marigot, and managed to find parking on the street. There was parking in that little lot on one side of the marina, but we passed it by thanks to the info from TTOL posters. We went to Le Village for dinner. Last year, they were reconstructing this place. This year, they’re serving Pasta Langouste and Pasta au Pistou. Around $80 with 3 drinks and 1 coffee.<br>Okay, we’ve got to talk about mosquitoes. Though they’re only about 1/3 the size of our backyard visitors, they are voracious little varmints. And the ankle biters are stealthy. You never see them until they’re already chowing down. We used up a can of Deep Woods Off halfway through the trip. Fortunately, the little superette by Bikini sold the regular strength Off. Nasty little beasts!<br><br>8/22 – PLP<br>We made a quick trip to Match for provisions and ran into the pharmacy for an adventure - trying to find medications when all the packaging is in French. Thank God, a lovely employee named Rita offered to help and promptly gave us what we needed. Then we were off to the beach.<br>The wind was much more tolerable today and the water was gently lapping on the sand in front of the yellow umbrellas. We met a nice couple named Arthur and Michele who are also from Long Island (small world) and spent the days navigating among the fish.<br>Had a picnic lunch and watched two girls taking pictures of one another until security whistled and strongly informed them that that was verboten. They were off one of the ships, we overheard and really weren’t all that bad. Compared to four couples who showed up later, the girls were down right pleasant. Now, I know we’re all out to have a good time. And vacation is a time for letting go. But, Jeez, why do some people believe that their shouting and acting like teenagers is acceptable behavior. I guess sometimes it is that people go a little too far.<br>Well, Debora hadn’t had a steak in quite a while and a co-worker of mine had suggested that, if we wanted steak, we had to go to Peg Leg Pub. They were touted as the best steaks on the island (are you listening, Neil?). With it also being Thursday night (TTOL night at PLP), we figured things were working out just fine. As many of you already know, this is a great place!<br>Shawn welcomed us warmly and made us feel right at home. We started with cocktails, coconut shrimp and jalapeno poppers. Both excellent, fantastic, phenomenal, add your own superlatives. After salad, Deb had the 10-oz Filet Mignon and I had one of the specials with shrimp and fettuccini in a cream sauce. Both were out of this world, terrific, add your own superlatives again. This place gets a great big WOW! Definitely a keeper. The food, the service, everything was better than we had hoped. Best of all, with 4 top shelf drinks, after-dinner cordials and 2 PLP tanks the bill was less than $100 with the tip. If any of you haven’t been there yet, make sure you stop in for the best steaks on the island, maybe in the world.<br><br>8/23 – Happy Birthday to me!<br>We needed to visited Touch of Gold to pick up our repairs. We did some quick souvenir shopping and headed back to the yellow umbrellas. We ate a quick lunch at the villa and were there in no time. This was our best day thus far. The water, the breeze, everything was perfect. A couple in the water feeding bread to the fish found out that the fish have a little difficulty distinguishing between bread and a certain appendage. Fortunately, they only nibbled and the gentleman was able to laugh about it after. We let the sand gravity take hold and dreamed of owning a sailboat and anchoring here or retiring and moving to SXM.<br>Earlier Deb bought a new beach bag at a shop in P’burg and the owner suggested we try Sebastiano’s for a special dinner tonight. We had originally considered Citrus but we heard that it might be the most expensive restaurant on the island. We took her advice and drove into Grand Case.<br>We parked in Sebastiano’s lot across the street from the restaurant. We got that creepy “maybe this isn’t such a good idea” feeling, but chalked it up to foolishness. It was 6:45.<br>Debora had a shrimp, veal, Palma ham (which I think is really called prociutto by us Italians) and eggplant dish and I had shrimp and scallops with angel hair pasta; wonderful presentation on both. We finished with a cappuccino and a double espresso which were also wonderful. Somehow, $135 seems a little stiff for pasta, but with the ambiance and everything else, it was worth it.<br>OK, here’s where everything gets sticky.<br>The parking lot is dark, we’ve had a few drinks and we’re feeling mildly apprehensive. I open the door for Deb and close it behind her. As I’m walking around the car, I hear Deb call to me and I rush to the driver’s door to find the window shattered. There’s glass all over both seats and the floor of the Rio. I start cursing and checking the car for further damage. There was none. I push the rest of the glass out of the window while Deb is brushing it off the seats with her purse and saying she wants to get out of there. I have to agree. It’s now 9:00.<br>We drive back to Hertz near the airport to return the damaged vehicle. When we arrive, Betty takes a Poloroid of the car. Now, it’s dark and the car looks fine except it’s completely missing a window which makes it look like the window is down. Betty asks, “Do you want to continue?” We thought about saying, “No, we’ll sleep here,” but we were afraid she might take us seriously. I said, “Yes, just not with this car.” Betty proceeds to pull a Hyundai out of the line up that looks like it’s been totaled and restored a number of times. It may have been transferred here from Beirut. She goes around the car checking all the places where it has damage. It would have been easier and quicker to just check the one or two spots that didn’t have a ding, dent or scratch. We figure, “Hey, it’s got all of its windows,” and we drive out of the lot. But before we leave Betty tells us that we will need to go into Marigot in the morning to fill out an accident report for the credit card insurance. She tells us the gendarmerie is located next to the Texaco station in town. Here’s a question for you: If they charge tourists for the damage on the rental cars, why don’t they use the money to repair them?<br>After a short conversation about returning to the villa and calling American Airlines to try to book an earlier flight, we decide that we’re not going to let this minor inconvenience ruin our vacation. So we pick up our plans where we left off and head for the Atlantis World casino. I donated a little to the local economy at the blackjack tables and after a few hours we headed home.<br><br>8/24 - Ou est le gendarmerie?<br>I hope that most of you have not had the pleasure of trying to locate the police station in Marigot. It is next to the Texaco station but heaven knows where you’re supposed to park. Finally, after circling the block twice, we pulled up on the curb in front of some vacant stores on a side street but not before we got caught in a cow jam. It seems a small herd was heading up the same street and they hadn’t been notified about the right of way laws. We noticed as we entered that the police station has hours when they’re open. We’re lucky and they happen to be open. We’re both high school French speakers, but our teachers neglected to go over the chapter on automobile vandalism way back when. Oddly, the gendarme’s English teacher had skipped the same chapter but he was able to tell us that we were in the wrong precinct and we should drive over to Quartier d’Orleans to fill out the report.<br>As we’re turning to leave, we’re surprised to see Arthur (whom we had met on the beach earlier in our stay). “What are you doing here?” Deb asked and we find out that he and his wife, Michele, had been mugged at knife point last night in Marigot. They parked in that infamous lot by the marina.<br>Debora and I drive to the other precinct which has parking and between the officer’s smattering of English and my smattering of French we’re able to complete the report. He was kind enough to tell us that the perpetrators were most likely NOT local residents but rather illegal individuals from Haiti or the Dominican Republic who were living on the Dutch side where the French police have no jurisdiction. It sounded like a cop out. Hell, if I damaged someone’s auto in St. Martin, would they have let me go because I’m a US citizen? I think not.<br>We headed back to Club Orient’s beach to find Arthur and get all the particulars. They returned to the beach about an hour after we did. It seems that they parked in that lot and when they exited their car they were approached by one man whom they thought looked friendly enough. Without warning Arthur was grabbed from behind around the neck and the knife was brought toward his throat. The first man ripped a chain off Michele’’s neck and took her purse while the second man kept asking Arthur for his money. Arthur couldn’t get to his cash but the first man came over and ripped his wallet out of his pocket and then ripped another small chain from his neck. They then knocked him to the ground and probably would have done more damage had it not been for some people in the marina seeing the commotion and coming to investigate. It happened very quickly and ended just as quickly, but it has guaranteed that Arthur and Michele will never return to SXM.<br>We did not go back to Marigot after hearing about that, nor did we go to Grand Case again after our experience at Sebastiano’s. If the governments of the island don’t do more to curb this kind of stuff, I’m afraid the tourists are going to begin to stay away or the hotels are going to set up compounds like Jamaica and Dominican Republic. That would be very sad considering nearly everyone we’ve met on the island is pleasant and friendly, but you know how these things get. Instead of worrying about the nudists on Orient, Disney should put it’s efforts toward decreasing the crime on the island.<br>We stayed in and ate leftovers, first because we had them but we were also uneasy about being out after dark. I realize that what happened to our car was nothing in comparison to that of our acquaintances but we still felt violated. I know there will be some of you who will pooh-pooh this part of the report (maybe the whole report) but this is a problem. I know our experience was one in a million, but isn’t that one too many? We did call Sebastiano’s to let them know about the problem. Christina returned our phone call later saying that nothing like that had ever happened in the twenty years she’s been there, but she did little else. She said she would call back in a day or two to find out how much the window was going to cost, but she never did. You’d think she would have offered us dinner to make up for the problem. We did find out that there is usually a valet on duty but he had taken the night off. Frankly, I’m not sure that would have saved the window.<br><br>8/25 – Pinel<br>Still a little uneasy, we decided to make the most of our remaining days and headed into Cul de Sac to take the ferry to Ilet Pinel. Had it not been Sunday, this might have been a great idea, but it was Sunday and the island got crowded rather quickly. We met another nice couple, Doug and Rhonda, who were staying at Village d’Orient (I think). We had all come over to do some snorkeling. The snorkeling was not good, though Debora and I did see a sea snake (about a foot long, yellow with black spots) hanging out on the bottom. Other than that it was sort of barren. There were quite a lot of teenagers there and they were “acting like teenagers.” Add that to the bunch of screaming toddlers and it was obviously not going to be a quiet day at the beach. Doug, Rhonda, Debora and I went over to have lunch at the restaurant on the islet. 4 salads (3 tuna, 1 karibuni) and 4 Presidentes for under $30 per couple. After another dip, Deb and I had had it. We headed back to Orient.<br>Earlier, we had checked out the restaurants around Orient at La Plantation and Esmeralda. We decided on L’Astrolabe with its price fixed menu. An appetizer, an entree and dessert for $34 sounded pretty good, plus we wouldn’t have to leave our little nest of safety. What a good decision it turned out to be!<br>The restaurant is small and the one server, Amin, was talking to one table when we arrived. We were followed almost immediately by three or four more tables and Amin was “in the weeds.” He was still wonderfully pleasant and as attentive as he could be. Shortly, Tomas, arrived to help him and things began to roll. Our appetizers were scrumptious. Deb had a tomato and cheese dish and I had endive salad. The entrees, one chicken in a cream sauce and one scallops dish were even better. The desserts, crème brulet and something else which I can’t remember were out of this world. And all this with drinks and tip for $120. This is another great restaurant to add to everyone’s list.<br><br>8/26 – Our Last Full Day<br>When you’re down to less than 36 hours on the island, you’ve got to go to the beach one more time. We went down to Orient early and took a walk. There is something marvelous about the beach in the morning. We stayed a little while then went back to get most of the packing done ahead of time. We also had to drive to Hertz to find out how much the broken window was going to cost. Hertz, didn’t have the paperwork and had no idea what the price of a new window would be. We returned to the beach later and spent the day relaxing.<br>For dinner we headed back to PLP. Deb wanted Surf and Turf but Shawn was kind enough to tell us that the lobster wasn’t up to his standards and he substituted shrimp. Deb had a 6-oz filet mignon with hers, I had the New York steak with mine. Now, I need to say that I never order steak, it’s just not one of my favorites. But after tasting Deb’s filet the last time we were here, I had to have some. Once again, Shawn was absolutely wonderful (Neil, he’s an incredible asset – give him a raise). There was supposed to be live music, but a passing rain shower put a damper on that idea while we were there. Again, we missed Neil, though there was some guy who walked in, went to the kitchen and then left rather quickly. Shawn swore it wasn’t the boss, but what do we know. All in all, it was another great dinner for under $100 with drinks and tip. This place is a MUST for anyone who hasn’t tried it yet.<br><br>8/27 – Going home.<br>We drove the car to the airport to check in (something Shawn had suggested). We dropped the luggage at the curb and I parked in the pay lot. The line wasn’t long, but it also wasn’t moving. They were doing random luggage searches when we arrived but began searching everyone shortly thereafter. Deb and I had to heave our 110-pound suitcases up on the table, unlock them, and allow the agent to feel around in our dirty underwear. It’s not fun, but it’s not too bad. We got our seats and headed back to the car. We drove to Banana’s for something to eat and a drink or two before we dropped the car off at Hertz (Deb just had to have those mushrooms again). Hertz still had no idea what the window was going to cost and said they’d mail us the bill. The shuttle took us back to the airport and we paid our exit fee, boarded the plain and had another uneventful flight home.<br>Except for the inconvenience of the window, this was another great trip!<br><br>Only 365 days or so till our next visit.<br>