June Trip Report .... #3

Weather continues to be hot, but beautiful. Thursday we spent hanging out at Mary's Boon and headed to La Villa in Grand Case, a new spot for us, for dinner. Oh my gosh, it was amazing! I don't know how y'all pick favorite restaurants in Grand Case - it seems like every time I go I have a new favorite lol!! The food was divine (escargot, crab tartare, lamb, seafood mix (including half-lobster), profiteroles & selection of ice creams). The service was excellent - the 3 of them effortlessly served the entire restaurant. I would highly recommend it and we will definitely return.

Friday was our first trip to Pinel. Not sure why it's taken us so long to make it there. Yellow Beach was closed but Karibuni was open. I attempted to make reservations for chairs and lunch, but apparently I missed putting in a date, so they didn't reserve them. Not a big deal, we took a couple on the second row and got lunch reservations with no issue. The host recommended a "lounge" table under a tree. Which was lovely as he said - what he didn't mention was that the iguanas like to have lunch with you there. I am not much a fan of them so next time I'll pick inside the restaurant! I had the shrimp ceviche with passion fruit sauce which was very good. My husband had the hamburger which he said was "fine." After lunch, we took a small hike to the other side of the island. It was deserted and beautiful. We may head back one more time before we leave. We'd planned to just eat charcuterie and wine in our room, but Ernie decided he was more hungry than that so we ended up at Fat Tony's. They had a musician who was very good. Dinner was wings, Italian sausage w/peppers & onions, and cheesecake. It was fine for bar food. The staff realized we had no idea what we were doing and were very helpful showing us where and how to order and where to pick up. We enjoyed the music and watching the college kids come in for take out. A easy, relaxing evening.

Saturday morning we decided to have breakfast at Mary's Boon. We both decided on different breakfast sandwiches and both were quite good. The view was beautiful overlooking the beach. We decided to head out to look for a beach chair since several of the beaches we enjoy don't rent them. We ended up at Cost U Less and found one and a cheap umbrella (well, the umbrella was cheap - the chair was NOT!) and we're set! Back to The Boon to hangout for the day. First trip to Vesna Taverna for dinner, neither of us are sure why we haven't landed here before, as we've driven by it a thousand times. When they handed me the menu, I thought I'd made a mistake, it was so small.... THEN the specials board. We had a tough time deciding, but my husband got mussels (the largest serving either of us have ever seen!) and I got the duck breast. We split a creme brûlée for dessert. Everything was excellent and this has surpassed many of our usual spots on our list and will for sure be a must visit for next trip as well! Vesna was everywhere checking on everyone and told us it has never been this hot in June....making me feel better that I'm not losing my mind and it is actually very HOT!

We are more than half way through our vacation, but have a few more days to enjoy in paradise!

Thanks for the report and the lovely pictures! Thanks for posting the descriptions also. Enjoy!

We keep saying we are going to La Villa but have yet to make it. Just don't like driving at night to GC and back. Was anybody using the Yellow Beach area during the closure? Yes it was unusually hotter than I remember in past years fo this time period. Even the locals were commenting on that. Not good for hurricane season.

Thank you for sharing your trip and photos!
I’m thinking the reason you never got around to trying some spots you mentioned is A. Because there are so many great ones to choose from….and B. Because so few have decent parking. We often pass on intended places purely because of lack of parking.
Again, TY for your report and fabulous photos. Much appreciated! 😊😊

Nice report and photos. Looking forward to future updates.

Glad you liked La Villa - we go at least once each trip, the staff are all very friendly and the food is very good.

We always loved La Villa, in the years when we went to Grand Case for dinner pretty much every night. Florence and Christophe are excellent hosts. As we've gotten older, that drive in the dark is less attractive, and the choices closer to home (La Vista Beach) are pretty good. I honestly planned to have dinner in Grand Case at least once this April when we spent a week in a villa above Happy Bay, but the villa was so comfortable we didn't manage that. So much for plans, lol.

Scuba - I didn't really notice anyone using the Yellow Beach area.... I saw one lady on the far end of the beach on a towel and a few under the tree at the picnic table. Oh, and one dog camped out on the beach literally all day lol. - He/she had dug a hole by the water in the breeze - it must have been a good spot!

Hopefully that dog belongs to someone at Karinubi and not left behind to fend for itself.

La Villa has been our favorite in Grand Case for years now. Ever since it changed from L'Alabama back in the old days. The service, the food, and the ambiance is top notch, and always have been. Now, I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

Christophe of La Villa has some great drone footage on his Facebook Sxmdrone page. He took me flying at La Belle Creole. Great guy, super staff there…and those profiteroles are amazing

I’m reading your reports in reverse order. Thanks for the descriptions and photos. We had heard that Yellow Beach on Pinel had closed but weren’t aware there is another option. We’ve never been there so this report has given us motivation to check it out. We still have a week and a half to decide