SXM April 2-18 2013

We left STL at 6 am Tuesday for Miami. We arrived on time. We left MIA at 11:15 and we arrived in SXM at 2:00. Immigration was easy as always. WE got our bags and headed out the door to find AAA. We looked around for about 15 minutes before finally finding someone that did have a sign with our name but he was not holding it up. He took us to the office and we got our car….it was on empty. We had to stop and fill the tank…$44. We headed to the French side. Check in was a breeze….however we did ask for room 138-141 and we got 160. Not a bad location at all, it just never fails…we don’t get the ones we favor…lol.
We went to dinner in Orient village at le piment with friends. We shared a foie gras salad and pork and shrimp entrée and a bottle of wine. Total cost was about $80. It was excellent. We went back to the room and hooked to the internet which works quite well. Then we crashed.

April 3 Wednesday we went to the boutique and got sausage croissants…pretty dry. We won’t do that again. We tagged our chairs on the beach. Went to leader price….not impressed…and then to simply. It is a Very nice store. We got our groceries. We went to the beach, and then we went to papaguyo for lunch and to the perch for happy hour. We went to dinner at bistro caribes in Grand Case…$150. I had fois gras appetizer and sea scallops, Steve had lobster bisque and sea bass...and we had a bottle of wine.

April 4 Thursday we got croissants from the boutique for breakfast. We had lunch on the patio. We had dinner at friend’s house.

April 5 Friday we had croissants on the patio. We went to simply to get more wine. We went to the pharmacy in Grand Case…very nice. We had leftover salad for lunch. We had dinner at papaguyo…Steve had sea bass and French onion soup. I had fois gras and spaghetti bolognaise.

April 6 Saturday we had croissants on the patio. We had lunch on the patio. We had dinner at papaguyo. We both had a salad and mussels.

April 7 Sunday we had breakfast on the patio and lunch on the patio. We had dinner at rib shack in Grand Case. The ribs were ok and the service was poor. We had rain off and on all day.

April 8 2013 Monday…our 41st anniversary. We went to the boutique to get our morning croissants at precisely 8 am. There was a huge line. By the time we got in, all the croissants were gone. So we decided to “preorder” 2 almond croissants every morning. So today we had cereal for breakfast. For lunch, we shared a cheeseburger at papaguyo. While slicing a lime, for Steve’s Caribe…I cut my finger…lol. Went to simply to restock on wine, beer and cat food. For dinner, friends joined us at Tibuchon. MOMO was as always a gracious host. Steve had lobster bisque and I had frois gras. For entrée, Steve had the grouper and I had mahi mahi. For dessert we had crème Brule. Everything was delicious. We came home and went straight to bed…and the bed broke…lol.

April 9 Tuesday we had croissants for breakfast. We stopped at the office and told them about the broken bed. They came and fixed it within an hour. While they were here I told them about a broken hinge on a cabinet. They also fixed that. We had BLT sandwiches on the patio for lunch. The light in the bathroom went out to we went back to the office to tell them. They came and replaced the bulb. The beach was full of crazy people today…the security had their work cut out for them. We went to Sol e Luna for dinner. We had a salad and Steve had the filet with mushrooms and I had the filet with fois gras. It was as always fabulous. We had a mojito and a glass of wine. Total bill…$194

April 10 Wednesday we had croissants on the patio. We had lunch on the patio. We had dinner at papaguyo. We both had a salad and sea scallops. We stayed for dancing.

April 11 Thursday we had croissants on the patio….lunch on the patio….and dinner at momma mias in Grand case. We wanted to go to California…but found out it was sold and is now la transit….but unfortunately it was closed for the season. It seems very strange to me. So we ate across the street at momma mias. They take $1 for 1…the special was a glass of wine, spaghetti, salad, and breaded veal and dessert for $22. It was mediocre at best…but felt we could not complain much since the price was cheap.

April 12 Friday we had croissants and the patio and lunch on the patio. We got a letter from management explaining all about the lifestyle cruise coming in today. It was really a disclaimer letter explaining that they did not invite them to come. Regardless…there were no issues. I saw nothing, they did not steal chairs, and they were well behaved and did not take pictures or anything. So it was much ado about nothing. We had dinner at sunset beach café. We shared grouper/mussels gratin and each had the mussels and salad. We had a bottle of Chablis. Bill was $115. Watched a lovely sunset and had a great evening with good friends.

April 13 Saturday we had croissants on the patio and went to the store to restock supplies. We had lunch on the patio with friends who were leaving and I made spaghetti for dinner on the patio. We got a notification from chase that our card had been stolen and was used in Texas. It is the card we have been using here in St. Martin. Needless to say we are not very happy.

April 14 Sunday WE had breakfast on the patio and lunch on the patio. WE had dinner in Grand case at piazza Pascal. We shared a Pascal salad and then both had ravioli entrée. It was very good. $1 for 1.

April 15 Monday We had breakfast and lunch on the patio. We attended the managers wine and cheese party. We had spaghetti dinner with friends.

April 16 Tuesday. We had breakfast and lunch on the patio. We went to the market. We went to a new place called Bacchus behind simply. They have wonderful wines, pastries, cheeses, etc. and even serve lunch until 3 pm. We bought a quiche Lorraine for 6 to serve for dinner tomorrow for our friends. WE were so excited to see a manta ray swimming very close to the shore this afternoon. He stuck around to make several passes back and forth. We had dinner at papagayo. Steve had a salad and chicken kabob and I had salad and French onion soup. Not the best we had have here.

April 17 Wednesday We had our last almond croissants for breakfast, our last cheeseburger and onion rings at papagayo for lunch. It was cloudy much of the morning. We had friends over for dinner on the patio.

April 18 Thursday We got up at 4 am to catch our flight to Miami. To our pleasant surprise, Mia has made some wonderful improvements in immigration and connecting flights. It all went very smoothly. Our flight was delayed and hour due to thunder storms. We arrived home about 5:30 pm.

This was a wonderful vacation. We once again drank too much and ate too much. We also relaxed a lot and after all…that was exactly what we needed.