So here's the deal,
this trip is definitely not about the walking/hiking like the last
one. I guess that's what we get for coming to a French Territory vs.
hanging out in U.S or British territories. You just don't find the
same level of finesse when it comes to food.
We found out that we
can check out of St. Martin up to 48 hours in advance and since we
want to head up to the north-east side of the island, by checking out
this morning we won't have to come back to a clearance centre before
we leave. Again, the process is so easy and all we have to do is
wait until 9am when the office opens. What to do in the
meantime...?? Of course, sitting in a boulangerie/patisserie to
while away the time wouldn't be an option, would it?? Who could
resist and need I say more about our scrumptious breakfast?
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| Above all, keep the baquette dry in the dinghy! |
Next order of the day
was to fill up with fuel and water so we won't have to do this again
before getting back to St. Thomas. We hailed Marina Fort St. Louis
and were told to come on in, but when we arrived at the fuel dock it
was taken with another boat. We hung around for a bit and did a loop
out of the marina and back in, and were finally clear to pull up to
the dock. 130 liters of fuel and our water tanks topped up we were
free to go, so long as we made it into the office to pay before they
closed for lunch. It was 11:58 am and quite a long walk around to
the office but thankfully Henry made it since lunch break in Marigot
is two hours! Who can blame them, though...?
Finally, we were all
free to head up the coast and with a lunch stop in Friar's Bay and
then a snorkeling stop in Happy Bay (both of which we visited and
loved on our previous trip to St. Martin four years ago), we headed
for Grand Case for the evening.
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| Happy Bay - a happy place, especially when you have it to yourself. |
To bookend the day of
culinary adventures, we headed into Grand Case for dinner. This
little town – literally one one-way street, is lined with
restaurants ranging from Lolo's (locally owned locally operated
fresh-air BBQs) to high-end French or Italian cuisine, all
overlooking a spectacular sunset across the harbour. We decided to
go low key and settled in at a Lolo where we enjoyed a rack of ribs,
a half lobster and a number of sides (potato salad, coleslaw, green
salad and curried rice) all for the ridiculous price of 43 Euros
(which also included 2 beer each). To top the evening off, we found
out that the price was offered in USD at par which usually runs 33%
above the Euro here.
Our plan is to head to
Tintamarre in the morning (an island off the east coast of St. Martin
and part of the nature preserve) but we have also found out that
Tuesday night is the last of the street parades in Grand Case. They
run through the winter and we'd originally been told it was over but
now that there is just one left, we will try to return to participate
in the fun (and maybe one more visit to the Lolo!)
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| Last flights into Grand Case for the night fly in over the anchorage. |
