Hi all,

Finally getting to the trip report from my wife and I heading down to SXM for a week.

Day 1: Mid afternoon arrival-Lesley met us with a car right at the airport and we were on our way within 15 minutes. Super fast and convenient. Checked into our beachside hotel in Grand Case (Love Residence) and parked the car. Disappointed we weren't made aware of the construction the hotel was doing as the bar would have been a good place to hang out later in the evening but to be honest we paid for the location, right on the water! Went for dinner at Piazza Pascal where we were well taken care of by a fellow Michigander.

Day 2: We went for a little drive after breakfast to explore the island some and stopped at the SuperU in Marigot for supplies(snacks and booze mostly). We ultimately ended up at Orient Beach which we had heard so much about and plopped down at Bikini Beach Bar. Service was extremely slow and disappointing and if you don't like to be bothered by locals peddling their goods/massages while getting some sun this is not the place for you. After spending the afternoon there we headed back to GC and showered and got ready for dinner at L'Auberge Gourmande in GC and it was absolutely delicious. I would definitely put it on a future must eats list. It was there we got this "passport" that 4 of the restaurants use to get people to eat at their restaurants so we said we'll eat at at least 3 of them to get a free bottle of rum.

Day 3: We spent day 3 at Loterie Farm since we wanted to hang by a pool and relax a bit since our hotel wasn't one with a pool. We took a 2 hour hike up the hill to get the view and it was a super cool trip up there. We saw about 20 monkeys along the way which I attribute to being there early and it being low season. After that we took to our loungers under the tree right next to the pool and started a full day of drinking and eating. I have to say that the service at L'Eau Lounge was absolutely exemplary. I tend to find that me speaking French gets us a little more attention at some places and this was one of them. We hung around until about 4:30 when we normally would head back to our place and hang out decide where to eat dinner. This night we decided on LeTasteVin (number 2 off the passport complete!) Another solid meal with a great beachside view but not at the level of the meal we had the previous night.

Day 4:
My wife wanted to do a little shopping so we drove around the dutch side and ended up at the market in Philipsburg. We made the obligatory tourist purchases which I enjoyed because haggling is not the norm back here stateside! After shopping we headed back towards the airport for lunch at Sunset Bar and Grill to watch the planes come in. What a very cool experience as we were there when Air France came in and the food isn't half bad. After hanging out there we headed to Cupecoy beach to wander and my wife absolutely loved it there! Very cool caves and tidepools etc. We then headed home a bit after 5 to shower up before dinner and my wife decided she wanted to check out the LoLo's so off we headed to Sky's the Limit. It had rained a little bit but the place was still packed and my wife loved the food and the full feeling we left with. As a sidenote my wife has celiac disease which prevents her from eating wheat/rye/barley etc.. and everywhere in GC was great about it and she never got glutened. After the Lolo we wound up at a tiny little side Bar called Mike's place. I wound up eating a crepe and my wife had another glass of wine and what a cool little place with only locals.

Day 5:
This day was what they call Grand Case Day or Schoelcher Day. It's to celebrate the abolition of slavery. The local schools had a parade through downtown around 10am with music and dancing which was a really cool experience for us. We had decided previously to spend the whole day in GC on this day as we figured it would be quite full of energy. After the parade and breakfast we headed down to Rainbow Bar where Jean greeted us and set us up with our spot for the day. We drank and swam and ate some good food throughout the day as I conversed with the locals and a large group visiting from L'hexagone. I did my best to hide from the sun as I had a lingering burn from our day at Orient. That evening my wife wanted to try another LoLo so we went to Talk of the Town right next door to Sky. Another good meal and got my wife hooked on Creole Shrimp. I went for dessert at La Crepe en Rose and we headed back to finish off a bottle of wine at our room.

Day 6:
This day we decided we wanted to go snorkeling at Creole Rock but were a little late to the show at Octopus Diving. Charlotte who works there immediately called up GCBC and got us set for an afternoon snorkel with Andrew. We ate lunch at Calmos which was actually very good and sat right over the water on a picnic table. We wandered the streets and shopped until it was time to head out snorkeling. WHat a great experience it was! We ended up being the only two on the trip. Andrew is an ex surfer and a pretty good diver and would get the fish out and moving for us to see. We saw a massive barracuda and were able to swim through several schools of fish. Was very disappointed to see people not respecting the rules of the marine sanctuary(standing on the coral etc.) which you can see degrading at a quick rate. After that experience we decided to have our last special dinner at Bistrot Caraibes. This was without question our favorite meal of the trip. The seafood and service was top class and yes this is where we hit number 3 and got a large bottle of ginger rum! Good too as my wife said if was her favorite of all the ones we tasted while on SXM. We headed back to our hotel to relax and listen to the waves crash with our slider open and the last bottle of wine for our trip.

Day 7: Our last day. We woke up and headed to breakfast at the restaurant our hotel provided breakfast at daily. Packed up, checked out of our hotel and headed to Marigot. I was craving a pain au chocolat and my wife wanted Macarons. We were not left wanting. Sarafina's could be mistaken for a bakery right out of Paris. Delicious little stop for us to say the least. The only bad part is afterwards we returned to our rental to see the left rear tire was losing some air. We needed to gas up the car anyways so we headed to the closest station and filled up on both gas and air. Appears the roads just get the best of the tires on cars over there as when we dropped off the car it seemed ok. I sent Lesley a note to check it out. We got to the airport at around noon and headed to check our bags. Luckily we got in line right before the 4 hour mark because people started pouring in after us and would have made the wait a bit longer. Once the bags were checked we headed back and made some more friends at Sunset Bar and Grill. We watched planes ate a solid meal before flying and headed to the airport for departure. All in all it was a great on island experience and we would surely visit again after we hit some of the other islands on our list!

A few final notes:
French side is definitely more sleepy. If you like a more calm atmosphere this is the side for you. Jen and I were really impressed with Grand Case. The beach was clean, we could watch the sunset every night, the Gendarmerie and merchant paid security were highly visible to keep the riff raff away. Looking forward to future adventures and happy to answer any questions anyone has!

Best,

David <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Great report. Thanks for posting. One question though; where did you park when visiting Serafina's? Was your car in view? I would have been nervous leaving luggage in the car if I could not see it while in the bakery.

Thank you for the wonderful report.

We were fortunate enough to have a table that had a straight view to pur cars trunk. While we took the normal precautions for most of our trip we didn't have any issues with the trunk being popped or car broken into.

Sounds like a nice enjoyable week, I enjoyed reading the report - thanks.

Great detailed report! Thanks for sharing!! We took a dune buggy tour up Pic Paradis, I would have loved to see some monkeys. (We were also there in July) The view was beautiful! We love snorkeling at Creole Rock and we are in the minority when it comes to enjoying the planes come and go! Usually we go between Marty's, SSBG and Driftwood. Grand Case is a lovely village. We were there as well this trip. Sky's the Limit for lunch but in the past have been to Calmos. Loved having lunch in the sand there! Glad you had a great trip!!

Thanks very much for a lovely report!

Great report. Thanks for sharing. We also love Sarafina's and make several stops there each visit to the island. Those pastries are addictive and their bread is delicious!

Great trip report! It reminded me of how much we used to do and see. With time, we have become devotees of "sand gravity". Glad to see that you have discovered this forum and our beloved paradise. Both are habits that you won't want to break!

Thanks for a good report. Thanks for taking time to post it.

Sounds like a very nice trip. Thanks for taking the time to write a report!

Who did you sign up with for the dune buggy tour up Paradise Peak? I have driven up there myself, in a car with questionable brakes. I would like to go again but safety is my main concern. Thank you.

Dave Hebert from Happy Hour Tours will organize the tour for you. The booth is right at Chesterfields close to the cruise ship pier.I think they are the best and very reliable.

Don, both Dave and Adrianna are wonderful tour directors. They will arrange whatever you need!! You can also email them at sailstmaarten@yahoo.com or find Dave Hebert on FB.

Loved the report! By the way, where is Mike's place located?

Mike's is next to L'effet Mer down by the pier.