# St Barts Forums > St Barts Trip Reports Forum >  >  Welcome to Heaven! - A first timer's trip report

## powderfreaks

Although we've been back in the cold and gloomymidwest for a few days now, I've been reluctant to start writing a trip reportbecause it means admitting that the trip is officially over. Our tans arefading already, and I have looked at our pictures about 1000 times tryingdesperately to retain that feeling of the hot sun on my skin and the sound ofthe wind in the palms. But now, I've come to terms with being back home, and after all the time spent on this site leading upto the trip, I figure I owe it to some other soon to be SBH visitor to help gettheir trip stoke on, so here goes!

*"Welcome to Heaven" - A First Time Visitor Trip Report* The flight sure as hell lived up to the billing! We made it to SXM in timefor Winair to book us onto the earlier flight, just like we were told theywould, which meant we would be popping that cork on the complimentary champagneat the villa even sooner that we had hoped . We were giddy as theisland approached out of the plane window, and then the pilot turned somelittle knob up front (is this kind of flying art or science???) and the planeseemed to hit the brakes mid-air as the nose dipped forward. We grinned from ear to ear as we felt thereverse G's in our gut and before we knew it we were bumping along that littlerunway. Fun way to start the adventure!

Guillaume met us and took us to our rental car, then up to Villa Coraloverlooking Lorient. The view from the deck? What can I say... simply stunning.

For dinner on the first night we decided on the Hideaway, because I had heardsomething about a mango mojito that I just had to try. Turns out the food ispretty darn good too. So good in fact, that this would be the only repeatresturant of the week! Cod fritters were a nice start to take the edge off ofour severe hunger, but Tracey's pizza (four cheese) was amazing. My Mahi-Mahiwith creole rice was delicious too. And then, much to our delight, a littlebottle of vanilla rum showed up for us! And after that, another! This is atradition I could get used to. I love this island already.

Sunday, our first full day on the island, also happened to be Mothers Day. Wehad reservations at Nikki Beach to see what the party was all about. The themewas "Saints and Sinners", and for some reason they sat us to the lefton the "saints" side - clearly a mistake but one I was quickly eagerto overlook as our waitress approached in her little white angel outfit withwings. She introduced herself as Mary, and in her oh-so-cute French accentasked us if this was our first time on the island. When we told her it was, sheresponded with "OH! Welcome to 'eaven!". And it occurred to me that Iwas sitting on a stunning beach with my best friend on a gorgeous daysurrounded by beautiful angels that would soon bring me wine. Clearly Mary wasdead right, we were in 'Eaven!

Our long, lingering lunch consisted of a couple bottles of Domaine Ott,calamari, gaspacho for Tracey, and a california roll for me. All very good,enhanced by the fashion show (eye candy for Tracey!), people watching, and thethumping but not too loud beat provided by the DJ. There never was a saxplayer, nor anyone dancing on the tables, and Mary actually apologized to usbecause, being the start of low season it was a little slow, but we enjoyedeverything so much we had no complaints whatsoever. After lunch we crossedbehind ER and spent some time swimming and playing on the other side of thebeach. Walked all the way down to the fence, found La Plage and marked it as aplace to return to, then swam and layed out on the Eden Rock swim platformbefore returing to the villa to enjoy our private pool. That night we walkedaround Gustavia, and since it was Sunday night there weren't as manyrestaruants open, so we ended up at Black Ginger (even though this wasn't on my pre-trip list). Had a wonderful meal andreally liked the ambiance. And guess what? More free vanilla rum!

After the Nikki Beach kickoff, our days fell into a nice relaxing routine thatwent something like this: Wake up around 7 and enjoy breakfast and coffee onthe deck overlooking Lorient while deciding which beaches to go to that day.Get the beach stuff together and leave around 9:30ish. Stop at Kiki Mo and geta Parisien Baguette to go. Find a beach, snorkel, walk, relax. Eat the Parisienon the beach. Go to a different beach for the afternoon. Once completelysun-baked, head back to our villa pool around 5 and open a bottle of Rose toget ready for the night. Head out for an apertif around 7-7:30, then tosomewhere wonderful for dinner.

On Monday we discovered Saline and Gouverneur beaches, and set to work on our all over tans.  After our villa pool cool-down, for our apertif we headed to Bar D'oubli to sample what turned out to be my favorite mojito on the island.  We would return several times to verify that it was in fact the best.  It was. :)For dinner we went to Eddys, and I'm so glad we did.  This was our favorite meal of the week.  The atmoshpere of the place was so lush, tropical and romantic.  They seated us off to the side near a little statue, and our waiter was wonderful.  He actually recommended a less expensive Rose than the one I was considering (Chateau des Marres, very nice).  I ordered the foie gras, just because its banned in Chicago and I was feeling like a rebel.  With the apple compote and the toast points, it was sublime.  Tracey enjoyed a seared mahi-mahi with a nice light cucumber and tomato tartare, and I had the shrimp in a coconut milk and curry sauce - really outstanding.  

Tuesday morning was tres windy, which caused us to adjust the plan a little bit. We started out at Guanahani and had a nice walk around the point.  But the wind was really brutal, so we bailed on our beach chairs and lunch plans to try for a more protected beach.  We headed over to Lorient so that I could check out the surfing possibilities.  The waves were a little small to justify any type of surfing, so we just swam and walked instead.  Had a nice lunch at JoJo Burger, which allowed us to get out of the sun and enjoy a fish burger before heading over to Saline to play in the surf (OK full disclosure - to play naked in the surf, which was even more fun and a ton of laughs!).  For dinner Tuesday night we chose La Plage, and what can I say?  A fabulous meal, a view of the beach and a guitar player serending us with accoustic versions of mellow classic rock tunes... perfect.  Oh and did I mention... more vanilla rum!

On Wednesday we were starting to feel the effects of our lazy beach time and our indulgent dinners, so we decided we could use a little exercise.  Our gluttony guilt (and our desire to see the view from the lookout) compelled us to hike to Colombier via the upper path, and it was a gorgeous hike.  Colombier was our favorite beach, very private and post-card perfect with all the sailboats and yachts anchored in the bay.  The snorkeling was also the best, I saw barracuda, squid, eels, and countless coulorful reef fish.  We enjoyed outr picnic lunch and eventually made our way back up to the point in a hot sweaty hike that was made more bearable by the strong breeze up top.  After a beautiful sunset from the villa, we headed to dinner at Tamarin.  To say Tamarin was a disappointment would be an overstatement, but it was certainly a little underwhelming considering our high expecatations.  We arrived ealrier than our reservations just to have a drink and enjoy the grounds, and the gardens did not disappoint, truly gorgeous.  However, once seated in a lush little nook, we were subjected the cigarette smoke from two other nearby couples.  I get the whole European smoking thing, but it did detract from dinner a little.  Also - and here's where I will probably piss off the pet lovers in the crowd - there was a cat that kept hanging around our feet, brushing up against us, and wouldn't go away.  We aren't really indoor pet people, so this was not really our thing.  Finally, and most importantly, dinner was quite mediocre.  My tuna tartare was good, but the gambas in spicy tomato was ordinary and the soba noodles were just plain bland.  I guess when I pay that much for a meal I expect to be impressed, and I just wasn't.  Its a beautiful place and I'm glad we went, but I dont think I'd go back to Tamarin.

For our Thursday morning activity we hiked to the natural pools, which was Tracey's favorite hike of the week.  One of the amazing and appealing things we found about St Barths was how it changes with every twist and turn.  For a small island, each new vista seems to have its own independent character and feel, almost like you're visiting a different island altogether.  Grand Fond certainly has this, as its completely different, very rugged and beautiful.  After a swim in the pools (watch those siny black urchins!), we headed back for lunch at Kiki Mo.  Wonderful fresh salad niscoise for me and some kind of kale & cranberry thing for Trace (she liked it, to each their own :)).  We spend the afternoon back on St Jean so that we could find a little sliver of shade up by the wall and protect ourselves a little from the relentless sun.  For dinner Thursday night we decided to give our credit cards a small break and headed back to the Hideaway for a couple delicious pizzas and of course more vanilla rum.  We had fun watching the hostess flit around the place, and eventually had the pleasure of meeting Hafida personally (what energy she brings to that place!).    

On Friday morning we decided to go back to Colombier, this time via the lower pathway from Flamands.  Another beautiful hike with stunning views, this one more mellow and much less sweaty.  Arriving on Colombier beach we were amazed by an immense yacht anchored off, a 210' trimaran called the Pilar Rosse, it completely dominated the bay and the other (still huge) cats and yachts anchored nearby.  Amazing.  

After our day on Colombier, we got dressed up and headed to Bar D'oubli for a drink and charcuterie plate, to hold us over to our late dinner at Le Ti.  Having heard about the party at Le Ti on Friday nights, we figured we had to give it a go, and it totally lived up to the reputation.  I don't think I've ever seen so many pretty people in one place in my entire life, and the fashion show and cabaret were a lot of fun.  But once that wrapped up the party really took off.  Sparklers, champagne, a loud heavy beat, costumes, drunk Europeans and table dancing, this place just went off.  What a blast!  We danced the night away and it all went by in a blur.  

On our last day we decided to start by exploring both forts overlooking Gustavia, which provided a nice warm up from which we could cool down on Shell Beach.  For some strange reason we really struggled to find the entrance to Shell Beach, even though its so close to Gustavia.  Seems like one wrong turn takes you all the way back in town, and we managed to get turned around several times.  Not sure why we were so directionally challenged on this one, but we eventually made it to the beach.  After our cool off swim we enjoyed lunch at Do Brazil, a true toes in the sand place, and my tartare was perfect and light with a little hint of lime, exactly the cool lunch needed for a hot day at the beach.  We finished back on Saline to get the finishing touches on our all over tans before heading back to the villa.  Dinner on our last night was at Entreact, right on the harbor in Gustavia for some good pizza (not quite Hideaway good, but still delicious with great service and a reasonable price).   

Another aside - before dinner on our last night we went to Le Select for a beer.  We had stopped by many times that week, and I noticed a little t-shirt shop in the back.  Being huge Jimmy Buffett fans, I thought it would be fun to bring home a few t-shirts for the kids so we could all wear them to the concert in Aline Valley Wisonsin this August (annual pilgrimage).  But every time we stopped by it was closed.  I asked the bartender why it was always closed and I got one of those only-in-the-island answers: "Oh the girl who works there got pregnant, so I don't know when it will be open." ?????  Back up where I'm from, getting pregnant doesn't exactly preclude a person from coming to work, so I was kinda dumbfounded, but OK, whatever!  So on our last night I had resigned myself to the fact that there would be no Le Select t-shirts.  But Tracey decided to give it one last go, and I was once again reminded that being a very attractive lady with a great personality (or at least being married to one) has definite advantages. She walked over to the window, leaned in a talked to the bartended.  A short time later she returned and said "He will open the shop in a few minutes for us.".  Sure enough, Richie the bartender leaned out the window a small while later and beckoned us back, where he proceeded to open the shop just for us and let us have our own personal little shopping experience.  This summer we will be sporting our authentic Cheeseburger in Paradise shirts for the JB show! 

On Sunday morning with very heavy hearts we boarded the 8:45 Voyageur and sped away from St Barths.  We visited the Sunset Beach Bar on St Maarten before our flight home, but I couldn't help thinking all the while how much these folks were missing by not being over on the little island not far away instead of this one.  But thats OK, they can stay right there....   

I have to close by saying thank you so much to the people that manage and post on this forum.  Your love of St Barths is infectious and helped make our trip special and perfect in every way.  Thank you all so much and i hope we can bump into you on our next trip so I can buy you all a mojito at Bar D'oubli!


Dave & Tracey        


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## davesmom

Oh, what a wonderful trip report!  Looks like you did it all, or as much as possible!!  And taught us a few new tricks, too.  Let's keep that SXM missing out stuff to ourselves :)..don't give away all the secrets!  I have to admit, the food at Tamarin was below the atmosphere for us, as well, and there was a very loud, obnoxious group next to us who let everyone know how important the host was, so maybe that did not add to the pleasure.  Des Marres has been my favorite rosé, so nice choice there!  We missed it this time, as all they had were the magnums at Nikki.  Next time, we will all dance on the tables, too.  We had the Domaine Ott at Nikki and thought it was just great, too.  It's all overpriced but Nikki is Nikki.  We had the same experience at Le Select, when no one would open the store for us, and the very disinterested bartender said the lady was pregnant and did not know when she would return.  Unfortunately, DD did not get his 2015 tee shirt, so I guess we have to go back!  Hope to try a pina colada at your Bar de L'Oubli..good place to park DD for a shopping excursion!  Thank you for your very entertaining report and start counting the days until you can return!!  Happy memories for now!  DM

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## JEK

Thanks for a great trip report! I attached the images using the photo icon to get larger images!

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## marybeth

Great report and pics! Love the happy smiles and glad you had a great time.

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## JEK

BTW, the Select lady is a Marius granddaughter. Their maternity leave is extra special :)

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## powderfreaks

Thanks for fixing the pictures JEK, much appreciated!  And the explanation for the maternity leave as well... now it makes sense!  No problem anyhow, gave us a fun story behind our t-shirts. :)

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## andynap

Thanks for the great report and pictures.

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## Tiffany

Very nice report.   :Very Drunk:

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## PIRATE40

Great job "discovering" the Island....You hit all the right spots, which is excellent for first timers....but, of course you did, you are from my hometown.....

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## amyb

A treat to read this thorough report. You have some mighty good memories to hold you TIL the next trip. Again, thank you for sharing your vacation diaries with us avid readers.

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## stbartshopper

Thank you for your wonderful trip report. Sorry about Le Tamarin! fortunately we did not go there on our last trip. Guanahani in the wind is not fun unless you are a wind surfer! Hurry back!

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## Karen

Super report!!!! Thanks for taking us along on your trip. I can hardly wait until our trip in July!

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## kent1994

Nice report. "We visited the Sunset Beach Bar on St Maarten before our flight home, but I couldn't help thinking all the while how much these folks were missing by not being over on the little island not far away instead of this one. But thats OK, they can stay right there…." I too have had these same thoughts and always reach the same conclusion you did.

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## T3

Pilar Rossi has an interesting story that was recently told in Caribbean Compass (April 2015) along with a number of pics:

"Pilar Rossi began her life at sea in Turkey in 1989, as a 112-foot Alucraft motor yacht with one hull and no masts. But some years later, her owner, the legendary three times Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet from Brazil, together with his uncle Mauricio Piquet, a naval architect, drew up a new design. Another 100 feet of length was added in the back of the boat thus doubling her size, as well as two massive outriggers built with the semi-SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) concept which was at that time the best options for multihulls, minimizing the ships volume near the surface area of the sea, where wave energy is located, thus maximizing the vessels stability, even in high seas and at high speeds. Two new masts, one 148 feet and another 138 feet high, made by Formula Yacht Spars in Lymington, England, gave the boat her new sailing soul and transformed her into a mega-schooner-trimaran. With hydraulically operated genoa, fishman, staysail and mainsail, she now has 2,200 sq m of sail area, capable of 8 knots under sail and up to 15 knots when motor-sailing."

pross.jpg
View from the mast when anchored in St Barth

Full article can be found here.

Nelson Piquet, the owner, is generally regarded among the top 20 F1 drivers of all time. This profile from the BBC tells the story of his racing career which is even more interesting than his boat's story...

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## LindaP

Nice report Dave and Tracey.....and thanks for letting me know about my bird feeder ! Glad you guys enjoyed the villa views and sunsets as well. Start planning the return trip now:)

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## GramChop

Very nice report, y'all.  I'm sorry that Tamarin failed.  I stayed at Villa Coral recently and absolutely loved it.  Guillaume couldn't have been nicer!  Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

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## Dennis

Great report. 

But a quick FYI:

Chicago repealed the Foie Gras ban in May 2008.

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## cec1

Such a great report!  You did so much & captured all of it so colorfully for us!  Thanks for taking the time to do so.

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## powderfreaks

Ha!  Good to know Dennis, thanks!  I guess Foie Gras is like Rose:  I wasn't really looking for it until we went to St Barths, but now I will start paying more attention to both.

Linda - special thanks to you for all the advice and recommendations leading up to the trip.  And for giving us a place to put the ends of our day old bread so the birds could enjoy :)

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## Chipper

That was a Very entertaining report! Bravo! Looks like y'all did it up well on your first trip.
Now start planning #2!

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## BND

Very fine report!!  Thanks for taking us along.  We all read these with great longing until our next trip comes up.  Hope to see you on island sometime!

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## debd

Nice report.  Great pictures.   Thanks for sharing.


And......have you planned your next trip?

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## powderfreaks

Thansk debd, glad you liked it... we haven't officially planned the next trip yet.  Mrs Powderfreaks is a bean counter, so I have to handle the expenditures deftly... there's a time to introduce these topics, and let her recover from the price tag on this last trip :).  But just between us, you'd better believe I am secretly plotting and planning.

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## davesmom

Smart woman you married!  Small economies during the year lead us back to SBH!!  Cut out the Starbucks and you can buy two tickets in no time..(that is from a former article I wrote on Cappucinonomics 101...)

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## stlcouple

Great report. It sounds like you did things well. 

After a couple trips, we still haven't made it to the natural pools. Despite good intentions, the pull of the beach and the villa has just been too much, so good on you for breaking the spell and hiking. Just another reason for me to plan another trip, I guess!

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