Excursion to Isla de Pinel

Isla de Pinel (Pinel Island) is a small French Marine Reserve island just off the northwest coast of St. Martin.  Accessible by ferry, kayak, and paddleboard, the island features four beaches, with no development allowed beyond the existing two restaurants and a gift shop.  We catch a small ferry over and enjoy the day.

Get off the ferry, pick an umbrella and chair

Nearby restaurant

Views of the water

After swimming a while, we hike up the hill from the beach and wander around the island.

Heading up the hill

The other side of the island

We wander a bit around the top of the hill enjoying the Caribbean views in all directions.

Views from the top

But, lunch calls and we head back down to the restaurant to dine on cod fritters, octopus stew, and a poke bowl.

Heading back to the restaurant at the beach

Cod fritters and octopus stew

Poke bowl

After lunch, it's back into the water for swimming and a few pictures.  Soon the afternoon winds down and it is time to catch the ferry back

View from the water

And, our reward for having such a fun-filled, water and beach oriented day is.... dinner back in Grand Case!  We head over to Bistro Caribe for escargot, seared tuna, margret de canard and fresh lobster.  And, of course, profiteroles and French wine.

Escargot and seared tuna

Selecting and weighing the lobster

Margret de canard, lobster

Profiteroles

As we finish our dinner and wander back through Grand Case, the sun slowly sets over the Caribbean and we watch the colors develop and change throughout the sky.  Another fabulous end to a great day.

Night falls

It's been a brief, but refreshing, relaxing, and delightful visit.  We'll be back soon!

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

Arriving in Saint Martin

We take a quick break in Saint Martin, a Caribbean island approximately 300 km (186 miles) east of Puerto Rico and shared by France (Saint Martin) and the Netherlands (Sint Maarten).  Sint Martin is one of the four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Collectivity of Saint Martin is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic.

We fly into Princess Juliana International Airport on the Dutch side and drive over to our hotel in Grand Case on the French side of the island, arriving in the late afternoon and wandering the hotel grounds at our hotel, the Grand Case Beach Club, admiring the view.

View from our room

Looking back at the hotel

Secluded niches along the shore

At the pool

Along the beach

Soon, the sun begins to set, lighting up the sky.

Sunset

We spent the good part of a day getting here, changing planes in Miami.  Now, we can just relax and enjoy a few days in paradise.  But first, dinner.  We dine at the hotel, on a porch overlooking the bay.  I spy octopus with egg and assorted vegetables on the men and have to try it.  I'm amazed - this is a combination I would never dream of and it is really good!

Grilled octopus with egg

After dinner, we stroll the short distance back to our room and admire the night over the sea and the bay.

Night along the water

We're only here for a few days and will spend them on the French side of the island, enjoying the beaches and the great food in the restaurants of Grand Case.

The next morning