# St Barts Forums > St Barts Trip Reports Forum >  >  Palmer St Barts Trip - Nov 18th to 25th, 2014

## jgcpalmer

So, we're here!  After booking about 9 months ago, today we finally landed on the shores of St Barts.

We stayed last night at a hotel in Toronto near the airport, and this morning got on the plane.  The flight was fairly uneventful and we landed right on time around 4pm in St Maarten.  Getting through immigration was a breeze (they only asked one question). Our taxi we had booked ahead was a no-show, but we quickly got another taxi and headed off towards Oyster Pond for the Voyager ferry.  We only drove a few minutes and got caught in stop and go traffic.  We were worried we might not make it to the ferry, but in the end we had lots of time.  The taxi drive was almost an hour, but that still left us with over an hour before the ferry would leave.

We had a quick snack at a little bar at the docks, called the Dinghy Dock Bar, and then we walked down the dock just as the ferry was pulling in.  The ferry ride was about as bad as people had stated.  At first the bouncing around was kind of fun, but it didn't take long for us to feel really nauseated.  About 2/3rds of the way there, my wife couldn't take it anymore and ended up losing the snack we had just had, plus the orange juice they served us on the boat.  The staff on the ferry were very nice and helpful, and helped us go outside to the back of the ferry, where it did feel a bit better, for the last few minutes of the ride.

We docked at Gustavia, and, again immigration was a breeze - they didn't even talk to us; they just stamped our passport and waved us through.  Jean-Philippe and the car rental agent met us right when we got off.  I was originally going to drive, but I was still feeling quite sick from the ferry ride, and my wife, now with a more emptied, settled stomach, felt ok to drive.  Driving ended up being quite the adventure right away, with the narrow streets and steep hills, especially at night - we still haven't even seen the island in the daytime yet.  

We arrived at Salines Garden, and wow, what a lovely place!  There is only currently one other couple staying here right now, so Jean-Philippe upgraded us to a room with a kitchenette for free!  He asked us if we wanted any recommendations for supper, but we told him we already planned on going to Andy's Hideaway for the first supper.

So after getting a bit settled in, we headed out to Andy's Hideaway.  It actually is hidden away a bit, and at night was a bit tricky to find, but this island is pretty small and it didn't take too much effort.  We had a campagnarde pizza and the green salad to share, and they were both delicious, and we had plenty to take home for leftovers.  He gave us shots of vanilla rum to cap things off (our first taste of it - yummy!)  

After our meal, we decided to take a little walk to St Jean beach, and by then, it's already getting late, and we had a very long tiring day, so we made our way back to our little cottage, where we are right now.

A long, adventurous day, and we're looking forward to the next week on this wonderful little island!

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## Eve

Enjoy!

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## marybeth

Yea!  Congrats on your first arrival....and nothing like a little rum to make you feel better!  Enjoy your trip and keep us posted.  We LOVE embedded reports :)

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## JEK

Enjoy!

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## Rosemary

Thank you for sharing your very busy first day!  Looking forward to hearing about those to come.

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## amyb

Day one was certainly filled with lots of things getting done.Now, start 'chillaxing' and enjoy the many things that  the island will offer.

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## andynap

Welcome to the island. Maybe you'll fly back to SXM-  :Triumphant:

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## stbartshopper

Every day from here on out will be better and the seasickness is in your rear view mirror! Food for thought- a one way plane trip back to St. Maarten would eliminate the possibility of another bout of sickness in the big waves and the hour in traffic.

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## tim

JGC, excellent reporting!  Please continue.

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## KevinS

Keep in mind that it is likely that the trip back will be more pleasant.  Heading from SXM to SBH you are generally heading into the prevailing seas, while the return trip is generally much smoother.

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## andynap

> Keep in mind that it is likely that the trip back will be more pleasant. Heading from SXM to SBH you are generally heading into the prevailing seas, while the return trip is generally much smoother.



If you have ever been seasick you don't want to see another boat for a long time.  :culpability:

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## julianne

Nice report---you are settling-in perfectly. Have a wonderful time!

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## lloyd

Glad hear everything is going well.As I recall,you are from Kitchener- Waterloo( we spoke when you were planning- unless I'm confusing you with somebody else!).If I remember that  correctly,you are missing a week of bad weather( though not nearly as bad as our American neighbors to the south!) I don't blame you for being a little leery of the 1 hr Westjet connection for your first time,but as you saw,you'd have had no problem making it.We're back and forth many times a year,and always take our chances on the connection,and it pretty much always works.Enjoy your stay.We spend months here,and if we can help you with anything,don't be afraid to send a message

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## jgcpalmer

Thanks for all the encouragement, everyone.

So Day Two seemed to be about just as adventurous, although a lot more fun.  We got up early and went to Saline, where we had the whole beach to ourselves.  Facing the water, there was quite a bit of seaweed to the right, but to the left, there really wasn't much at all.  There were huge waves and we had a lot of fun getting pushed around by them.

We then came back to the cottages for some breakfast.  Last time I posted, I had misunderstood and thought there was only one other couple staying - there seem to actually be 3 other couples staying (so I'm not sure how our room got upgraded, but I'm not complaining!)  We met 2 of the couples - one from France and one from the States.  We had bread and croissants with jam for breakfast.  We're used to getting a little more protein and fibre with our breakfasts, but it was still tasty enough.

After breakfast, we set out to explore the island.  We did a counter-clockwise tour around the island by car, stopping at various places to get out and just take a look around at the beautiful scenery.  We stopped at Petit Cul de Sac, and walked the beach there.  The left side as completely covered in seaweed, but there wasn't much to the right.  The sand was much rougher there to walk on, but we again had the beach to ourselves and enjoyed our walk.  

We continued from there on to Lorient, where we had lunch at Jojo Burgers.  We shared a Jojo Burger and a Thai salad, and both were quite good.  We picked up a few supplies from the minimart, and checked out Lorient Beach too.  

From there we continued our journey and stopped in St Jean.  We wandered around St Jean, looked in a few shops, and walked on the beach.  This was certainly the busiest beach, although still not "busy" at all compared to what we have at home.  We saw a few planes take off, and then we needed to get going, as we had a reservation for a catamaran sunset cruise.  

So next we headed to Gustavia.  We had some time and wandered around.  It was actually quite quiet - there weren't too many people around at all.  Our sunset cruise was with Jicky Marine.  We really lucked out because we happened to be the only ones to buy tickets for this evening's cruise (in high season they usually get up to around 20 passengers), so we had our own little private cruise, just the two of us and the captain of the boat.  We sailed out to Columbier where we watched the sunset.  We also passed by this huge superyacht, named "Serene".  We looked it up and apparently some Russiain vodka tycoon owns it, and Bill Gates and his family had leased the boat for the whole summer this year (for $5 million a week!)  We're not sure who was using the yacht this weekend, but it even had a helicoptor on it, which was pretty cool.  Oh, and we didn't have any seasickness problems on this boat - the whole trip went smoothly and was possibly the highlight of the day (that and Saline in the morning.)

After our cruise, we wandered around the shops a bit more - Gustavia seems to perk up in the evenings, as there were quite a few more people milling around.  Then we came back to our cottage, where we had leftovers from Andy's Hideaway for supper.

So that's it - now we're just relaxing at our cottage.  Between seasickness, excitement for the trip, and being in a new bed, I got *very* little sleep last night, so we're going to tuck in a bit early tonight.  

Potential plans for tomorrow:  Shell beach, this little hiking path that go up from Gustavia up above shell beach, M&P for supper, and who knows what else!

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## JEK

You are living the dream! Thank you for sharing!

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## Karen

Sounds like a great 2nd day!  Thank you for posting.

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## amyb

You are doing wonderfully well. Proud of your get up and go!  Keep having fun...

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## jgcpalmer

So we've had another wonderful day at St Barts!

Last night things got pretty stormy - we were woken up twice by the sounds of pouring rain and the wind.  We thought we heard something fall and break outside, although when we got up, we couldn't find any damage.

We started off our day with another early swim at Salines (I think this is going to be an every day ritual this week!).  It was quite a bit windier this time (it was windy everywhere we were all day today, actually), but the surf wasn't really any bigger and we had a really fun swim.

After our swim, we had breakfast again back at the cottages.  Another couple staying there had gone to M&P the previous evening and gave us a good review.  That became about the 4th recommendation in 2 days we'd gotten for M&P, so we decided we'd better, go, and asked Jean-Philippe to make a reservation for us.

We then headed out to Gustavia to do a bit of exploring.  We walked up the steps to Fort Carl ("Fort" is a bit ambitious for what it is).  The view up there of both Gustavia and Shell Beach was wonderful.  From there we could see across to Fort Oscar, so we decided to check it out.  We walked over to the fort, but unfortunately one can't go in, as it's used as a police station.  Still, it was good to see it up close.  In Gustavia, we also decided to buy some fruit and vegetables.  Eating healthy seems to be a somewhat difficult thing on the island, and we wanted to have some healthy snacks.  You really realize the price difference of things when you want to buy fresh fruit and vegetables - 3 euros for an apple!  

We were getting hungry, so decided to get some lunch.  I had read about the Wishing Well and really wanted to try that place, so we drove to Flamonds.  We really liked it there - we sat next to where they had little bowls hanging from a tree, and there were dozens of birds just a few feet from us feasting on the sugar in the bowls.  We has some kind of salad, that we honestly aren't even sure what was in it, but it was very tasty, and as a main course, had chicken with cocoa and ginger sauce, which was really, really good.

Since we were at Flamands, we decided to check out the beach, as we were looking for a place to go swimming again and cool off.  Flamands is a really beautiful beach.  We tried to go swimming, but the water was just too rough, and we had sand blowing in our faces.  While we were drying off on the beach we saw a few other people try to go swimming, and it was just as short-lived for them as it was for us.

So we decided to go to St Jean, and the water there was great for swimming.  We swam and watched the Cata Cup.  We spent quite awhile in the water, and then just relaxing on the beach.  Then we went into town, and had a drink at Le Piment.  We had a passionfruit milk shake, which was good, but the server there was not very friendly to us, and seemed annoyed that she needed to serve us instead of just chatting with her friends.

Before heading back to the cottage, we stopped at the sporting goods store just down the street, and I bought myself a pair of tinted goggles.  I had eye surgery earlier this year, and have had light sensitivity issues since, and it's made it kind of hard to swim in the bright sunlight, especially with big waves that I'm afraid will knock off my prescription sunglasses.

We went back to the cottage to shower up and get changed, and then went out to Meat & Potatos.  We had the Duck Gourmand salad, the Wagyu Beef with grilled potatoes and 3-pepper sauce, and an apple tart flambee for dessert.  It was all incredible food.  We both agreed it was the best steak we'd ever had, and we both love duck and the Duck Gourmand salad was just crazy good.  Even though we were sharing this, it was way too much food for us.  We only ate half our steak and potatoes, and asked for the rest to be packed up for us to-go.  Unfortunately, our waiters were very new to the job, and understood little English, and did not understand what we asked, and they threw out our leftovers.  When we explained what we had asked for, they were extremely apologetic, and were clearly very, very sorry for what had happened.  We were disappointed, for sure - we are trying to do our trip on a budget, and leftovers is one way we're trying to make it work, but it was as much our fault as theirs, for speaking quickly and assuming the people here should understand my English perfectly well.  Still, it was an incredible meal, and I highly, highly recommend M&P to anyone who come here.

So that's it for today.  Tomorrow I think we're hoping to do shell beach - my wife has never snorkelled before, and I think that will be a good place for her to get her feet wet (literally) with it.

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## amyb

Just love reading about what you guys are doing and discovering.  Keep having fun.

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## andynap

You are doing a splendid job of exploring the island. Nice report. Try some pictures too. :)

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## jgcpalmer

For our third full day at St Barts, we decided to take things a bit easy, after having a very full and busy first two days.

We started off with our usual Saline swim.  The beach was somewhat eroded this morning, and there was more seaweed, and more seaweed constantly coming in.  The water was pretty clear of it when we got in, but an hour later it was really too much to enjoy swimming in.  It was a lot less wavy though, and I'd say it was more fun to swim in, with big swells to ride, rather than crashing waves pushing us around.

After breakfast at the cottage, we headed out to Shell Beach to do some snorkelling.  My wife had never gone before so it was a bit of an adventure.  She was very nervous about it, and she had some trouble getting the mask to seal properly, but in the end she was starting to get the hang of it  As for myself, I wasn't sure if I'd get snorkelling, as I have some light sensitivity issues, but I tried the goggles I bought yesterday, and they worked great.  I was even able to attach the snorkel to them.  In the end we saw several varieties of fish, and had a good time.  Those shells at that beach though, they get everywhere!  It was quite the chore cleaning them off later.

After snorkelling, we stopped at a supermarket in Gustavia, and picked up some cheeses, and then went to a patisserie (I forget the name, it's across from the post office), picked up some bread and some sweet treats - a kind of pastry that looked like a sandwich bun with cream in the middle, a raspberry tart, and these little sandwich cookies.  We had lunch back at the cottage - bread and cheeses and veggies, with the treats from the patisserie for dessert.  

The afternoon we just spent lounging around the cottage.  We skyped back home and talked to my parents and our 4 year old son, and just relaxed and took it easy.

For supper, we went to L'Esprit.  WOW - we both thought this was possibly the best meal we'd ever had.  What was amazing about the meal was it was mainly a combination of things I didn't like.  One of the little appetizers they brought out was mahi mahi tampura on shredded zuccini.  I don't like fish, and I don't like zuccini, but it was really tasty.  We also has the cockels with foie gras chips.  Again, I don't like seafood, I didn't really like the foie gras we tried at M&P, and it also had asparagus, which I don't like.  But it was so incredibly yummy anyways.  Then they brought out this mint ice to cleanse our palates, and our main course was pigeon with a celeriac pie.  For dessert, we had pistachio raspberry cake with lemongrass jelly and lime mousse.  To drink we had a Lemon Tree Sour.  It was all delectable.  We were also really impressed, that when we told them we were sharing everything, they split each item up into two smaller portions, so we still each had our own plate of nicely arranged food.  So few restaurants do this, and it makes such a huge difference to us.

After dinner, we came back to the cottage, and went for a night-time swim in the pool.  And that ends another wonderful day in St Barts!  Tomorrow our plan is to do the Washing Machine hike, and try a second go at snorkelling at Shell Beach.

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## Bart -my real name-

Thanks for another great report. 

I love the bit about weird/unliked foods combining to become something wonderful. 

Another good beach adventure is the "hike" (walk) to Colombier. Hopefully you'll have enough time to get that one in.

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## Karen

Love your reports!

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## jgcpalmer

Thanks guys!

Andy - I hope to get pictures up soon - I might add them in to all the posts once we're back home from the trip.  

Bart - ColOmbier ( :Big Grin: ) is our plan for Monday morning.  Jean-Philippe recommended we not do Colombier on the weekend as it will be busier then.

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## andynap

Colombier -- :)

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## jgcpalmer

We had another great day today on St Barts!

We started out with our usual swim at Saline.  We were hoping it would have improved from the day before, but it was pretty much the same.  We found a small place to swim, but after about 15 minutes, even that was filled with seaweed, so we got out and just walked along the beach for a bit.  At lunch, one of the other couples told us that Governeur isn't bad at all, so I think we're going to try that instead tomorrow.

After lunch, we went off to do the "Washing Machine" hike, to the natural pools.  This was such a fun hike!  It was definitely a bit of a tougher, more adventurous, hike, than we were expecting, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.  The views were spectacular, and there were many mountain goats, including a mother and two babies, to be seen, often only about 20-30 feet away from us.  We waded in the natural pools for quite awhile, enjoying watching the waves crash against the side, and then made the hike back.  I love a good hike, and this was one of the best I've ever done - definitely a big highlight of the trip.

By time we got back to the car, we were famished.  We had wanted to check out something a little more local, so we drove to Cayes and visited Chez Yvon for lunch.  We had the beef with shallot sauce, with frites, as well as a chicken salad.  It ended up being nothing amazing, to be honest, but the restaurant had a quite a few guests, that I believe were all local, and we enjoyed hearing people talk in French in a variety of accents.

After lunch, we took a stroll through Cayes down to the beach.  The water was very rough, rocky, and seaweedy - definitely not a place to swim, but we are continually amazed at how many beaches are on the island and how each one has its own character.

For the afternoon, we decided to try snorkelling again, and we headed out to Shell Beach.  My wife again had issues with getting a good fit with her mask (we even switched up masks this time around), and had a bit of a frustrating experience.  She got to see a few fish here and there, but eventually gave up, but I continued on, going along the eastern cliff wall, where I saw a couple large (30+) schools of fish, some coral, and some very large sea urchins.  

Next we went to the supermarket, picked up a few more groceries, and came back to the cottage to have another homemade meal of bread, cheese, fruits, and veggies, and have spent the rest of the evening just lounging around the cottage.

For tomorrow, we plan on visiting the Anglican Church for their Sunday morning service, probably lounging around St Jean beach in the afternoon, and L'Isola for dinner in the evening.

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## JEK

Another great day well documented. Enjoy L'Isola!

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## julianne

You are enjoying the best of St. Barth. Thanks for taking us along.

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## cec1

Great reports -- so fun to read!  They take me back many years to the first visit Wendy & I made to St. Barths -- some things change, but never the enthusiasm / pleasure of discovering SBH in all its incarnations.

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## jgcpalmer

The fun-filled days on St Barts just keep on coming - it's too bad the trip is soon coming to an end!

Today we decided on our early morning swim to go to Gouverneur, as the seaweed had been building up over the past few days to the point of not really being fun to swim in.  Gouverneur had very little seaweed, but most of the water was very rough.  We tried to swim at the end farthest away from the entry point, but after getting knocked right off my feet by a big wave, we decided to walk down the beach and try to find a better spot.  We found that in the 50 or so feet closest to the entrance, the water was calmer.  The undertow was still stronger here than at Saline, but overall the swim was very nice.  It did end up raining for about 15 minutes of our swim, but when you're already in the water, what's the harm in getting a little more wet?

After breakfast at the cottage, we went down to the Anglican Church for the Sunday morning service.  Unfortunately, we got the times mixed up, and instead of being quite early, we were quite a bit late.  We were still able to attend for the last half of the service, and got to talk to several of the attendees afterwards and get to know them a little bit.  It seemed that at least half of the attendees were visitors, rather than residents, which is perhaps not surprising as it's the only English-speaking church on the island.

Next we went to St Jean and went for a swim.  The beach was lined with all the catamarans from the Cata Cup, and Nikki Beach was teaming with people for their Sunday afternoon party.  Away from that area things were pretty quiet, with only a small handful of people swimming.  

We started to feel a bit hungry, and so drove down to Lorient and ate at Le Bouchon.  We had an Indian chicken panini and a salad, with creme brulee for dessert.  

KevinS and his wife were gracious enough to contact us through these forums and invite us over to their beachfront villa for drinks and snacks and lovely conversation.  It was a real treat to sit down and chat with a wonderful couple who have been coming out to this island for more than 30 years - thanks again KevinS for your hospitality!

For supper, we went to L'Isola.  We had spinach and ricotta ravioli, as well as risotto with wild boar, topped off with profiterole for dessert.  Our waiter had a very thick Italian accent, and I have to admit that hearing him describe in detail all of the day's specials was half of the fun of the evening.

And that's it for another day - we're back at the cottage, relaxing, and looking forward to our final full day on the island.  Tomorrow we plan on heading to Colombier beach.

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## tim

Are you taking the upper path or the lower path to Colombier beach?  The upper path is a bit more strenuous.

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## Rosemary

Thank you for your wonderful reports!

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## amyb

Just a treat to see how your day went.  Thanks for the time you put into these reports.

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## jgcpalmer

Tim - we plan on taking the lower path.  we're going to be carrying beach supplies, snorkel equipment, and our lunch - no need to make things any more difficult!

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## lloyd

Really sorry to have missed you at church.I would have liked to meet you.That was me playing the guitar at the front,and Pat did the second reading.Enjoy the rest of your trip

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## GramChop

I am truly enjoying seeing St Barth through your eyes.  It appears as though you are accomplishing quite a bit in a short amount of time.  Visiting the Anglican Church on my most recent visit was a highlight of my trip.  Charles's gentle deliver of God's word is a soothing salve to a parched soul!  The chorale and musicians bring an energy to that lovely old building on Sunday mornings that even the sugar birds flock to the sanctuary to hear!

Thank you for bringing us along on your holiday.

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## jgcpalmer

So today was our last day in St Barts.  We're looking forward to going home and seeing our son again, but wow, what an amazing trip!

We started the day with our usual morning swim, this time at Gouverneur again.  We got caught in a torrential downpour for several minutes while we were swimming, but it was well worth it, as we were rewarded with a fulll double rainbow, the biggest and clearest we've ever seen.

After our breakfast at the cottage, we went to Colombier beach.  We took the "easy" trail, which was a bit more arduous than we thought it would be (although still nothing like the Washing Machine hike).  We saw lizards and turtles and butterflies on the trail, and such great views!  We really enjoyed where you can stand at one spot and see the windward and leeward sides of the island at the same time, seeing the waves making huge crashes (where you can feel the spray hit you a hundred feet up from the water) and on the other side, the water is totally calm.

Despite how difficult it is to reach the beach, Colombier was easily the busiest of any of the beaches we visited, and we could quickly see why.  There was virtually no seaweed, and the water was very calm, the easiest to swim in of any of the beaches.  

My wife decided to forgo snorkelling, after having a frustrating time before, and after seeing how far she'd have to swim from the beach to be able to see much, so i headed out on my own.  The snorkelling was really great - I saw a lot of fish and coral, and a lot of things that I wasn't even sure what they were.  There was one sea creature in particular, that I don't think was a fish exactly, as it had long wavy fins on the side instead of on top and undreneath, that was fascinating to watch, especially as it was able to swim forwards and backwards.  I wouldn't mind any feedback if someone knows what I saw - when I have a faster internet connection I'll put up a video I took of it, and maybe someone can chime in on what it was.

Around Colombier, we also enjoyed exploring around where there are some ruins of stone stairs and a dock, I'm assuming as part of the what the Rockefellers built.  We had a picnic lunch there (including bread we picked up from La Petite Colombe on the way), and then did the hike back to Flamands.  The wind had really picked up and the hike back was a little more scary - the wind was enough to make balancing a bit tricky at times.

In the afternoon, we went and did a bit of shopping in St Barts.  We picked up a couple beach bags from Loulou's Marina, and a few toys from the local toy store for our son.  We also took some time to look at some of the fancier stores.  In the Cartier store, we had to wait until the store person unlocked the door for us to get in, and in the Ralph Lauren store, a woman followed us around everywhere we went making sure we weren't getting into trouble (or taking pictures).  Other store experiences were more fun.  The "Time" store had all sorts of interesting watches, including a B.A.R. watch that I would have loved to have - unfortunately I was about 42000 Euros shy.  

For supper we went to Pipiri Palace.  We had the onion soup, the rack of lamb with spicy mint sauce, and Tarte Tain with Salted Caramel for dessert.  It was all so delicious, especially the lamb.  We thought it was on par with the fancier restaurants like M&P and L'Izola, even though it was a bit cheaper.  The staff there were also incredibly friendly.  We'd highly recommend the place.

And that's about it - we're now back at the cottage getting things packed up.  We're hoping to do one final early morning swim tomorrow, and then it's back on the ferry (for a hopefully calmer ride) and then flying home to Canada from St Maarten.

Again, I must say that this was an incredible trip!  If and when we come back to the Caribbean, I am sure this will be our destination.

Once we're home and have a better internet connection, I'll try to intersperse some photos of our trip, and perhaps give some final thoughts.

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## andynap

Great reports and have a safe and - ferry- uneventful trip home.

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## amyb

Safe travels. Glad that you got to Pipiri, a favorite of ours,  it had not been opened yet for our visit earlier this month. Will get there the next time. Great atmosphere, good food, blues music, and a polite and caring staff.

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## KevinS

Safe travels!  Thanks for stopping by.  We always like to hear a "new eyes" perspective.

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## Bart -my real name-

Love the reports!  

Print these up and save them……read them in a year or 10 and re-live it all again.

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## amyb

Happy Trails.

I really enjoyed meeting you through your posts.

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## JEK

The Palmer trip goes in a special category of living large! Thanks for taking us along!

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## cec1

The Palmer Journal will live a long life for your loyal readers . . . and as a great recollection for your memory of the trip.  Thanks for sharing it with us!

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## LMAC

Your daily reports were great fun to read!    For those of us who have been there before, it is always delightful to read of the experiences of "first timers".  Hope you will be able to return for many years to come.

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## soyabeans

many thanks for your posts, hope to be able to walk in your footprints

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## GramChop

Bon voyage, Palmers.  Thank you for taking us along!

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## 1988lagonda

LOL...keep up the great report.  How 'bout some photos?

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## Hfirst

Fantastic, thank you so much for the information thru your reports.  Quick question, wife and I are planning our visit around June of 2015.  We have looked at the website for Saline Gardens.  Would you recommend?  Any positives or negatives you could share?

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## jgcpalmer

We really liked Salines Garden.

Pros:  
Inexpensive
Can get room with kitchenette
Jean-philippe is very helpful (will meet you at the ferry/airport) and fun to talk to.
Breakfast included (and having breakfast with the other guests was always fun, and a great way to find out new things to see on the island.)
Very close to Saline beach 

Cons:
Does not have a view of the ocean
Breakfast is not exactly "healthy"  (bread and jams, croissants)
Has a long, very bumpy driveway (not a problem, just have to drive really slowly.)

Advice:
Get a cottage with a kitchenette.  We had the "Cap Ferret" cottage.  One of the other guests said their kitchenette (which is outdoors) was infested in mosquitoes.  We did not see any at all at our kitchenette, I think it got the breeze a bit better.  Overall, we hardly saw any mosquitoes on our trip, actually.
If you're used to have a breakfast with some nutrition in it, you'll want to think about adding to what's served at the table.  There were a few of us there that were bringing more items to the breakfast table.

Overall, we were very happy with where we stayed.  If and when we come back to St Barts, I think it would be very likely that we would stay there again.

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## Hfirst

Thank you for your insight.  We are leaning toward Saline Gardens.  Your report has inspired me to "get with it" on getting things together.  Wife is not too please with taking the flight from St. Martin to St Barts.  We have visited the island one other time (day trip) and we took the "vomit comet".  It was and my wife did.  :)  So I have a chance of talking her into the plane ride.

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## jgcpalmer

We had the same experience with the ferry.  The trip back was fine, though.  I think we would make a point of taking the plane next time, not just from our experience with the ferry, but also just because it sounds like it's its own adventure in itself!

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## marybeth

> Breakfast is not exactly "healthy"  (bread and jams, croissants)




Wait...what?  Croissants aren't healthy?   :Big Grin: 

Thanks for the review Palmers!  If you really want a kitchen and a more substantial breakfast, you should also consider a villa.

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## jgcpalmer

We will certainly look into a villa next time, although I have a feeling it will be out of our price range.

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## TimH

You might want to look at Villa Case du Roy under villas for rent by owner on this site. $1400 U.S for a week off-season. Several forum members have been very pleased.

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## Dmitch

Our group have discovered your beautiful island in 2007 and love returning. The villa options are wonderful and give you chances to choose between areas of the island. 
Of late we have been in the Govenour area and love the location. So many restaurants close by to choose from and all have their own special identity with terrific friendly staff there to assist. The beaches are fantastic with our favorites being all of them! Of  course Govenour may be the most beautiful with its intimate setting, usually protected waters with gentle wave action that I have seen only in a few places in the world. I wonder about the daily watering of the vegetation which seem to be encroaching on the available beach the past couple of years. Seems to me that if it were to occur naturally...ok, but the artificial watering is encouraging invasion of the beach which is public to all on the island. The beach boulders on the west end of the harbor used to be visable and are now covered by the vegetation that seems to have been encouraged by the watering that occurs daily that we saw. I hope Govenour will remain accessible to all.

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