June 15-22

Another fantastic stay (11th in 14 years) at Grand Case Beach Club. We shun the sun so we love this location for its little shaded nooks and great breezes. Flew from EWR (United) and rented from ACE Car Rental as always with no issues.

Food, glorious food...
...in order of most to least favorite (Dinner)

*****L'Auberge Gourmande - my first taste of St. Martin 14 years ago and still my favorite. Dinned 2x. This is our #1 restaurant in SXM - food and service top notch! If you only have one night on SXM, dine here.

****1/2 Spiga - wonderful food - actually better than I remembered it last year. The pancetta-wrapped roast pork tenderloin is excellent and a must try. Staff is courteous and professional and tend to take themselves a bit too seriously. We never skip this one.

**** La Villa - always nice to see Christophe. Food enjoyable, service rushed. To their credit, we picked a bad night - there was a large group that took over the whole restaurant (we heard they were medical students from St. Kitts.) No A/C here and it got very noisy and hot.

***1/2 Le Cottage - was a favorite in previous years, but we hadn't dined here since Bruno departed. Thought it was time to give it another try. Good food but not as memorable as previous visits. Stephane was a gentleman; we felt the woman with the short blonde hair (his wife?) could be friendlier. Didn't care for the Phil Collins music that played all throughout dinner. Bruno arrived to to dine with his family while we were there - it was fun to watch them enjoy their meal.

*** Mario's Bistro - thought it was time to finally check this place out. Service friendly. Didn't think the food was up to par with Grand Case restaurants. Not sure if we'd return.

** Piment - BF loves this place for their Bolognese. I had pizza that was just okay. Good when you're not in the mood for "fancy." They could use another server.

* L'estaminet - Didn't actually dine here. After a few years of trying unsuccessfully, we just gave up. They appear to take vacation each June but never post the dates on the door- bad business IMO. Their FB page said that they would be re-opening with a new menu on Wednesday, June 18th. That date turned into Saturday, June 22nd - our last night. When we got there, a gentlemen welcomed us and said "were sorry, our credit card machine isn't working - cash only" we had to unfortunately turn and leave. Very disappointing to say the least.

We didn't make it to Ti Bouchon, Piazza Pascal and Bistro Cariabes this year. We feel that while Bistro's food is excellent, their menu is a little tired. And we weren't that crazy about the new Ti Bouchon menu.

Lunch
Dreams - First time here and our new favorite lunch spot. Bruno is a gracious host and we truly enjoyed our meals. We wish him lots of success.

Little Jerusalem - always our first stop after the airport. We just love Abe. Great guy, great food. Ask for the mixed schwarma - it's so big we share.

Top Carrot - always make a stop for a Lemon Breeze! Didn't actually get to eat lunch here this year - place was packed and service incredibly slow - so we grabbed a sandwich down the street at Cafe Atlantico Bakery (just okay.)

Lotterie Farm - It rained pretty hard on the day we had lunch. We saw lots of (drenched) people on a tour cutting their fun short and trudging back to the buses. We really enjoy the setting here. Food is good, service could be friendlier.

Karaker - Once a favorite. Something about this place has changed - the setting is not as "charming." We felt packed in like sardines with other tables on top of us. Maybe it was the boisterous crowd watching the Soccer match, I don't know.

French Bakery next to Le Bounty in Grand Case - grabbed a few sandwiches to bring back to the hotel (yummy.)

Zee Best (Airport Road) - Grabbed a nice sandwich on the way to the airport on departure day. Very friendly staff here and great food. Convenient to our rental car location (ACE Car Rental.)

Carousel - We always treat ourselves to a gelato here. Nice stop in the afternoon.

Breakfast - continental b-fast included at GCBC/Sunset Cafe. We didn't order anything additional off the menu.


Beaches - Didn't make it to Orient or Guana Bay this year - BF preferred the calmer beaches. Spent most of our time at our hotel beach(s) and pool.

Day trips - Anguilla. Last visit was in 2001 so we decided (BF begrudgingly as he doesn't understand all the fuss over this "landing strip") to make a return trip. It gets to be an expensive day when you add it up - Ferry, departure tax on both islands, temporary license, car rental from Andy (great guy),lunch (Blanchard's Beach Shack.) Beaches were wonderful as always, but we probably won't be back for another 12 years.

Observations - Love the new bridge - gets you from airport to French side without the hassle of Simpson Bay traffic. Island seems a bit cleaner than in previous years - maybe as a direct result of the huge tourism initiative (Who needs tourists? - We do!) Safety - we always ask for French plates (no R to signify rental) to deter break-ins and we've never had any issues. Mosquitoes - saw a few but slathered ourselves in Avon Skin So Soft Spf 30 Bug Guard Plus every day and didn't get one bite. From what we heard, the hotel and island as a whole are taking the necessary steps (fogging, spraying, etc.) to protect against the spread of the chickunguya virus.

Thanks for reading!