Thursday, January 23, 2014

Different Country - Different Feel


Saint Martin/Sint Maarten has a very different vibe than the Virgin Islands.  It’s more….European.  Most everyone is speaking French although bi-lingual/multi-lingual.  People are more fashionably dressed here than the Virgin Islands – pasty colored, fanny pack-wearing cruise ship tourist and sunburned, wrinkly clothed, smelly cruisers aside, of course.  I am not knocking the fashions of the Virgin Islands, it's just more cosmo here.

Very civilized internet session
And smoking.  They have smoking here.  Stylish, pretty people type smoking - not old grandma at the slot machine hacking type smoking.  I was shocked at what little smoking we saw in the British Virgin Islands and even on the USVI side.  

Scooters are back too.  I even saw a few four wheelers.  I know this is a popular mode of transport on St Barths Island as well.  Most of the cars we have seen here are small.  Very small.  Even the trucks are small.   Much like you would find in Europe.  
Olives - love the packaging - perfect for boats

First grab from the store - in a hurry.  I can't wait to really dive into all the various cheeses

And the FOOD.  OMG - the Food!  This will take it's own blog posting but I am in cheese paradise!!!!!
Dinner


5 comments:

  1. What kind of veggies do they have on this island? I suppose I could live on bread, cheese and wine.

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    1. Lat 43-selection in St Martin is better than BVI's. The open market Sat in Marigot had OK selection but nothing over the top. We found two grocery stores today with AWESOME selection and not too pricey. My waistband is already telling the tell of the bread, cheese and pastries.

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  2. It sounds great -- I would love *most* of that European food. But I had to laugh when I saw all those green olives! When we moved into your abode, there were no less than four jars of olives in the fridge, three of them already opened. From all your martini parties, we figured. LOL! I don't like olives at all, and Barry only really likes the black ones, so most of them got "recycled"...sorry. ;-) I am glad to see you were able to restock in St. Martin!

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    1. Ha! Yes, I had many different types of olives for different occasions.

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  3. Once again thanks for all the good info. Just in St Martin the other day, Quick in/out, less than 12 hours.
    Yes, US Customs (at least stateside) are not that much fun to deal with. Islands are much less uptight.
    Kinda incredible to see all the heavy metal mega yachts lined up side by side. Hope your cruising is every thing you want it to be, looks so.

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