We just returned from a wonderful vacation on St. Martin. Below is our trip report. It is also posted on our website. We hope to have the pictures from this trip on our site this weekend or early next week.


St. Martin

April 3 – 11, 2006





First, this was one of our best if not the best vacation we have ever been on and that says an awful lot! This was our first trip to St. Martin since April 2002. We always loved St. Martin but got hooked on the relaxation of the all inclusive resorts. We were ready to go back and are really glad.



We used frequent flyer miles on American Airlines. We can not get a direct flight and many of the flights we had to St, Martin in the past was terrible, which is another reason we have not returned since 2002. This year was no exception, on the way down we had to connect through Orlando and San Juan on route to St. Martin. Returning we only had one lay-over in Miami, but we hate the Miami airport.



We arrived around 5:30 and caught a taxi to Club Orient; it took almost an hour and a half to get to Club O! The traffic was the worst I have ever seen on the island. The taxi driver even tried alternate routes to get around the traffic, but with no luck. We arrived at Club Orient after the office was closed, so we got our package from the guard and the taxi driver took us to our unit, #149 a mini-suite.



We dressed appropriately for Papaguyo’s and had a nice dinner. We did not last long after dinner as we were both dead tired after getting up at 3:30 AM for our flight. The next morning we had breakfast at Papaguyo’s, of the 8 days we were in St. Martin, we ate breakfast at Papaguyo’s five mornings. Breakfasts were all great with wonderful service. You just can not beat the view sitting there eating breakfast over looking Orient Bay. This has to be one of the most beautiful views anywhere, after a four year absence; we forgot just how beautiful it is really.



We never left the French side until we went back to the airport on the 11th. We ate in Grand Case and Marigot for dinner except two nights at Papaguyo’s. Tuesday night we ate at Le California, the most memorable thing about that meal was the local rum served after dinner. We liked it so much (strawberry-banana) that we bought 4 bottles to bring home. Tuesday we ate both breakfast and lunch at Bay Watch. Breakfast was very good and it was wonderful to see Andy and Cheryl again. We saw our license plate in a very conspicuous location as you walk up the steps. The poor plate is really rusted and we need to bring Andy a new one next year. For lunch we had muscles, the sauce was great. That night we had dinner at El Nettuno. Dinner was wonderful and afterward my wife (who is a professional singer) did a couple of nice duets with the strolling musician…they offered her a job…lol. Thursday we had dinner at Le Gallion in Marigot in the harbor. The view and dinner were wonderful. The only thing bad about having dinner in the harbor is all of the establishments hawking you to have dinner in their restaurant; we found this to be very annoying. Friday night is lobster night at Papaguyo’s. They served very large lobsters for $25, not a bad deal. Saturday night we celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary. We ate at the Fish Pot. Even though we have been to St. Martin several times, we had never tried the Fish Pot and several of our friends at Club Orient did not recommend it and said they had a bit of an attitude. We found everything on our visit to be very good. The view of course is wonderful at sunset. The service was great and so was the food. We both had chateaubriand. I thought it was the best meal I had all week. On Sunday, we had breakfast at Zee Best. We forgot where it was located and it took us a while to find it, but had a very enjoyable breakfast. In addition to a couple of fresh pastries, we had their crepe special. That evening we had dinner at L'escapade. My wife thought this was the best dinner she had all week. Monday we had lunch at Pedro’s, the chicken after a margarita from Bikini Beach Bar. I swear that was the strongest margarita I have ever had in my life! Monday evening we ate at Spigos in Grand Case. One very annoying items at most of the restaurants in both Grand Case and Marigot was their method of exchange between the euro and dollar. Most would take one dollar for one euro if you were paying in cash. If you charged it, then they would charge you an additional 20%. We had planned on charging most of our meals, so we took limited cash. Some places would let you charge, and then want the tip in cash. Spigos was the only place we ate that took one dollar for one euro even when charging. Next year we will take a lot more cash.



We did quite a bit more touristy things this trip. Friday morning we went to the Butterfly Farm, this was our first time. It was very enjoyable. We were the first there and the butterflies were very active and we managed to get several good photos. The mosquitoes are very bad! So I recommend if you go, spray yourself with off first. We then went to the Mt. Vernon Plantation. This was very touristy and even though we enjoyed ourselves, I don’t think I would give it a recommendation. On Sunday, after breakfast at Zee Best, we climbed to the top of the fort in Marigot. This really has some beautiful views of St. Martin. This was Palm Sunday, so when we were going back down the hill, a lot of the locals were worshipping at the cross with their palms. It was really quite moving.



The only beach we went to was Orient. The beach was in great shape. Wow has it really built up in the last few years! We were amazed at the increase in beach chairs down past Club Orient. We sat close to the Perch on most days. There were the usual parade of folks off the cruises and we managed to meet a few folks from TravelTalk. We made some new friends as well as seeing some familiar faces from trips past. Club Orient no longer offers the water taxi out to Green Key. We were a little disappointed as we used to like to go our there for a picnic on an afternoon. Club Orient now gives out tags for your beach chairs…and it is a wonderful idea. It has the date of your departure and your room number. The rooms also now have phone and internet access…though the phone service needs some work….the lines crackle terribly.



The only hiccup we had this trip was when we returned the rental car. We rented from AAA which we have always had great luck. They brought our car to us Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM as requested. They were to meet us at 1:00 PM at the airport on the 11th. When we arrived at the airport, no one was there to get the car. After waiting for awhile, I parked the car in the lot and locked the keys in the car, so hopefully Alain has a spare set. I wrote him to let him know when we got home. Other than that, the trip home went smooth.



Our plans were to go to Hawaii next April, but after this great trip we are reconsidering and thinking we may go back to St. Martin again next year. What a great place to spend a week with the person you love <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cool.gif" alt="" />