Walking Through Grand Case, Saint Martin

Grand Case is a small beach town, one main street along 2 km (1.2 miles) of sandy beach.  Across the warm, clear water is Anguilla, a short boat ride away.  Grand Case is often called the gastronomic capital of the Caribbean for the restaurants along the main street, many overlooking the beach, with top French chefs, food and wine flown in from France, and local seafood.

We start at one end of the 1 km main street, named, appropriately, Blvd. de Grand Case, and wander.

Views toward the bay and the hills

Along the bay

Our hotel a short walk away

Blvd. de Grand Case is quiet in the morning, most of the restaurants and shops not yet open.  A few of the open air lolos (small open air restaurants that grill great food and serve it inexpensively at picnic tables with plastic cutlery and paper napkins) are firing up their grills and the smell is intoxicating.

Blvd. de Grand Case

Lolos

We'll come back for dinner each night, but now wander through some of the side streets just to get a flavor of Grand Case.

Wall art

Side street

Restaurant publicity

At the edge of town is a soccer field and parking lots for the people who drive here for dinner from all over the island (we're lucky, we can walk from our hotel!).

Hills and fields surrounding Grand Case

Back at our hotel, we admire the artwork of Roland Richardson scattered around the grounds and in our room.  He has been painting St. Martin for decades, often from a perch at the Sunset Cafe in the hotel, showing the oranges, yellows, and greens of St. Martin on canvas.

Roland Richardson captures the colors

 

We view the colors

But, soon it is time for dinner and we head back into Grand Case, to Ocean 82, for a table overlooking the bay and some incredible food.  We start with six oysters, lobster bisque, and a cheese plate.  Then, it sounds so tempting that we all have salt-crusted sea bass, followed by profiteroles for desert.

Oysters, bisque, cheese

Serving the salt-crusted sea bass

Sea bass and profiteroles

We walk back to the Grand Case Beach Club, looking out over the water as another day comes to an end. 

The day winds down