St. Martin

St. Maarten/St. Martin

April, 2006

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St. Martin is an island that is divided in two countries - the "Dutch side" and the "French side". Being partial to French stuff myself I will persist in calling it "St. Martin", the French name.

The island has a large lagoon that you enter by one of two bridges, one on the Dutch side and the other on the French side. The boundary between the two countries runs through the middle of the lagoon. There were hundreds of boats anchored in the lagoon and all around the island. St. Martin is a place that boats go to re-fit and buy lots of stuff. Everything can be bought and sold there as far as we could tell. You can see every kind of boat there. Here's one that was unique in my boating experience so far - not your average white "bleach bottle" boat. (I'm pretty sure they were flying a French flag - "but of course!")

...more St. Martin...

So, while we were in St. Martin we got into the spirit of the place which is pretty much just buying stuff. We shopped over on the French side of the island and Jackie was thrilled to stock up on LOTS of bottles of good French wine that cost us about $4 a bottle. We also managed to get a couple of French bakery runs in, including pain au chocolat and croissants, and a few cups of good French coffee. We went to the open market on the French side, it was very picturesque.

We weren't really in the "Spice Islands", but there were lots of spices to be bought in the market and they smelled wonderful.

We visited the Dutch side, too, for internet-ing and some basic groceries (they had American stuff on that side). But the parts we visited there weren't especially photogenic and we weren't terribly inspired. So, no pictures of St. Maarten, just St. Martin (I hope by now you are pronouncing it in your mind as "San Mar-TA(nasalized)", the French way!)