Marigot

After our day trip on Scooby Too to Anguilla, we stay closer to home the next day and visit the town below Grand Case, the capital Marigot.  First stop, lunch at the lolos, traditional Saint Martin open air restaurants, near the harbor.  We wander, read the menus outside several interesting-looking places and pick Rosemary's, where we have Rosemary's Fish Creole, Rosemary's Chicken Creole, and Red Snapper.

Dining at the lolos

Snapper, fish creole, chicken creole

After lunch, we walk over to the Marigot harbor, still recovering from Hurricane Irma in 2017.  While there are some emply restaurants and shops, the harbor is looking much better than it did a year ago.  Progress in the cleanup is slow, but steady.

Art on the walls

Greetings from a native

Around the harbor

Greetings from a non-native

On our way back from the harbor, we notice that we just missed the annual Festival of Gastonomie.  We'll need to come earlier next year!

A trip to Anquilla on Scooby Too

On previous trips to Saint Martin we have spent a day on Scooby Too, a catamaran out of Anse Marcel, just around the corner from Grand Case.  Scooby leaves Anse Marcel and makes a stop at our hotel's beach which is truly convenient.  We book two trips in advance and take the first one to Anguilla, the nearest large island and a UK dependency.

First, Scooby Too heads over to Tintamarre (Île Tintamarre), a small island off the Saint Martin coast, for swimming, snorkeling, beach walking, and viewing of sea turtles and sting rays,

Scooby Too

Leaving Saint Martin behind us

A short stop in Tintamarre

The crew puts out lunch (with lots of great cheeses - we are in France) and, after a leisurely repast, we depart Tintimarre, raise the sails (actully, the crew of Scooby Too raises the sails), and head across the Anguilla Channel to Rendezvous Bay.

Sailing across the channel

Arriving in Anguilla, it's time for more swimming and water sports.  We swim to the beach for a walk on the beautiful white sand, while others accept the offer of a shuttle ride on Scooby's inflatable dingy.

In the water

Along the shore

After swimming and walking and more swimming (and a few trips on the water slide off Scooby's deck), we get back onboard Scooty Too and cruise back across the channel to Marigot in Saint Martin, then up the coast to Grand Case.

Anguilla in the rear view mirror

Approaching Saint Martin

Returning to Grand Case

After Scooby Too drops us off at our hotel's beach, the sun begins to set for the end of another day in the Caribbean.

We arrive back at the hotel

The sun sets again

Another great day in paradise!

Arriving on Saint Martin

Well, it's cold now and it's time to go someplace warm:  Saint Martin in the Caribbean, an island which is half Dutch and half French.  We like to stay in Grand Case on the French side of the island, quieter than the Dutch side (with its cruise boat terminal) and packed with great beaches and small restaurants featuring fabulous French cooking focused on food from the sea.  We arrive at the Grand Case Beach Club and wander around our hotel, about a 10 minute walk from the small town of Grand Case.

Around the hotel

Around the hill to the restaurant and the next beach

On the pool deck

Looking back at the hotel rooms

Soon, the sun begins to set and the colors change dramatically across the land and the sea.

Sunset

Another day has come to an end, we've arrived in paradise, and it's time for a walk to town and a fabulous dinner!