We have just returned from our 4th vacation on St. Martin, this time with our girlfriend Kris (her second). 733 photos and 150 minutes of video could easily prove we had 10 days in paradise once again. <br><br>We arrived on Cheri’s birthday July 10th after spending a night in South Beach. Since we are from the West Coast we can’t make it to the island in one day. Michael from Unity Car Rental was waiting for us right on time and before we knew it we had parked the jeep along side Sunset Beach Bar and the girls were drinking for free once again. After a few cocktails, stupidly standing behind a couple of 747’s and watching the tourists try to sneak a few topless photos of Cheri and Kris, we decided to check into our beach chalet at Club O. This was only for two nights as we had rooms at Oyster Bay Beach Resort through our Marriott timeshare for a week. We spent a few hours winding down on the beach and then got dressed for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Le Planteur, unfortunately we only made it once on this trip (a place definitely deserving of more than one visit).<br><br>We had heard about the “saving” of chairs along the beach at Club O and we could not believe it when we walked out on to the beach at 7:30 the next morning. Many chairs were locked together by plastic bags or an article of clothing was draped over as many chairs as possible. But we found three and nudged them onto the “front row”. The day started with breakfast at Baywatch. Then the rest of the day was spent soaking up the sun, playing in the sea, walking along the beach, shopping in Sexy Fruits, buying specially made thongs (for the girls) behind Pedro’s and drinking in Bikini Beach Bar (Rasheed remembered us from previous years and is one of the best bartenders on Orient Beach). Sitting at the bar topless is not an issue at all.<br><br>After we all showered outside, which is a high light I may add, got dressed, we ventured in to Marigot and found that our friend from last year, Sam Kheufi has now bought Le Galion in addition to Le Village on the marina. So this is where we ate and drank most nights. No hassles, very quiet, great service and terrific food<br><br>Saturday we checked out of Club O and into Oyster Bay, but returned to Club O to settle up our bills. Service is not Oyster Bay’s top priority but we were now on island time and they gave us a great location, very private balcony with a view of St. Barts and Dawn Beach. The day turned into a party day, which started in Papagyos where we met up with Mike and Lisa from Texas and the drinking started under “Party Naked”. We continued in Bikini Beach Bar with Cheri and Kris chatting with the locals and tourists using as much French as possible. Sam invited us to watch the fireworks from Le Galion that night (celebrating the French independence) which was a nice display over the marina and then we ended up with Sam and all his relatives from France at the Cohibar party at Casino Royale until 4:00 am when the rain started. We didn’t realize that the rain was bringing the ash from Montserrat until Mike & Lisa called Sunday morning saying the airport was closed and we can’t get out. Sunday was a very quiet day, eating a late breakfast at Mex on the Beach and sleeping on the beach, hopefully no cruise ship gawkers where walking by because the three of us were dead to the world.<br><br>Monday should have been a day of shopping in Philisburg, but because of the heat we quickly ventured to The Sunset Beach Bar to cool off. After a couple of cold ones, with Heidi, by far the most pleasant bartender at SSB, we drove over to L’Amandier in Grand Case where the service is first class. David behind the bar told me I needed to “rallumer la chaudiere” so we had his special of the day and then sat on the little beach, were served wine and appetizers ocean side, swam in their pool and watched the sun go down. We believe there is not a better place on the island to do these things<br><br>Tuesday was a trip to Happy Bay, a bit of a hike from Friars Bay but well worth it. We took in a days worth of bread, cheese, beer and champagne and lazed around completely naked and not bothered except from a couple of “disturbances” from a local in the bushes who liked to look at two beautiful women and play with his “thing”. I suppose cutting the bread with a big knife scared him off eventually. It’s a great beach but very little shade. Realizing that we had been in the sun far too long we packed up and slowly walked back over the hill for a few cold refreshments at Friars Bay Beach Bar. The only bad part was the big ugly guy at the bar, who after at least a half hour of talking with the two cute bartenders (according to Kris), and taking photos, he rudely asked Kris and Cheri to put their tops on. Remember this is on the French side!! I think there were some cruise ship people still sitting around and because the husbands tried sneaking photos, their wives were getting a little embarrassed. We heard them say in a high whisper, “they are American too”. We moved on picking up fresh fish and great wine for a night of home cooking as we had a big day on the boat on Wednesday.<br><br>Earlier in the week we had arranged for Manuel, the captain of Jericho, who moors his boat by Le Galion to take us out with Sam, his wife (Ned), Victoria her friend and a good friend Pascal who owns Aqua World. In the off-season you can get a good price, $500 for the day, but you can also rent smaller boats from Pascal in Simpson Bay and captain yourself for a little less. Sam brought firewood, lobsters, chicken and rice, we took the refreshments and Pascal brought the champagne. By 10:00 we are on our way to Tintamarre island. We start a fire, imitating Tom Hanks in Cast Away (but we had help from matches and paper) so the food was cooking in 30 minutes. You think the food on Tiko Tiko is good! While everything was cooking we took a clay bath. Doing this with two American women and two French women is the best ever. After lunch Sam got the same treatment for doing all the cooking on his day off. Then it was anchor up and we were off to Anguilla and the beautiful resort of Cap Juluca. We swam into a very posh beach bar (clothes have to be put on as topless sun bathing is not allowed on their beaches). $70 later for 2 cokes, 2 beers, 2 cocktails and a glass of water Manuel decided to take us to snorkel by La Samanna. We watched the Barracuda’s feed on the smaller fish and a very beautiful sunset. Sam got out fresh fruit and Pascal opened his champagne. We arrived back at the marina just past six o’clock, feeling very exhausted but looking back on a great day.<br><br>Thursday it’s was back to Philisburg where we spent most of the day in the Guavaberry brewery (tasting the island made rum and buying a couple of cases) then shopping at AMA jewelry store where Mac treated the ladies to a first class sales pitch and me a Heineken. Now it’s my turn to drink for free! As I finished one cold one after another Mac’s calculator kept showing decreasing numbers on the bobbles the girls picked out. Since it was Cheri’s birthday week and nobody has ever bought Kris a diamond, they walked out with a tennis bracelet and a ring apiece. So much for free drinks!! My gift was to “treat” me to more bevies at Sunset Beach Bar and convince another lady to drink for free, which put a smile on her husband’s face too. Cheri always finds at least one lady a year to join in the fun. <br><br>Friday we visited Pinel Island for the first time and we were not that impressed, far too crowded and only one good beach. Yes, you can venture over the hill but the water and sand are not good for much more than privacy. Catching the last ferry we ventured over to L’Amandier Plage again for some peace and quiet. But after a while you can only have so much peace, so David helped perform a St. Tropez on the sleeping girls, what a laugh. The whole staff and customers watched as he sprayed (cheap) champagne all over them as I filmed the fun.<br><br>That night Sam and his wife treated us to dinner and a show at the Atlantis Casino, an hour or two in The Platinum Room and a late night at Bliss. The French certainly know how to party.<br><br>Saturday was going home day. It’s so hard to say goodbye, but after checking in early at the airport and returning the jeep we went for our last free drinks at Sunset Beach Bar instead of hanging out at the airport. We spent a night in San Juan and finally arrived home late on Sunday. Now we need a vacation to recover from this one! We will back next July if not sooner.<br><br>The Best<br><br>Restaurants and Bar <br>Le Planteur<br>Le Galion<br>Le Village<br>Sunset Beach Bar<br>L’Amandier Plage<br>Bikini Beach Bar<br><br>Beaches<br>Orient Beach<br>Happy Bay<br>Tintamarre<br>Baie Longue<br><br>Fun things<br>Clay bath<br>Shopping naked<br>Standing behind the planes and being blown into the sea<br>Renting a boat<br>Michael at Unity Car Rental<br>Meeting new French friends<br>Taking hundreds of photos (some are now on
www.Orientbeach.com vacation snap page)<br>Trying to buy a Harley<br>Dancing in the rain<br>No email, phone, newspaper or TV<br>Showering outside<br>Wine tasting at Le Gout du Vin<br>Trying to speak French<br><br>Kind of bad<br>Too much traffic<br>Talk of the Town closed<br>People who act as though they never seen a pair of boobs in their lives<br>Service at Oyster Bay Beach Resort<br>Gas prices<br>Leaving<br>
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