The "Villa Jeluca" Story

It was an ordinary day. We have just landed on St. Martin, picked up our luggage and our car and are headed to Cap Caraibes Realtor to get our escort to our villa for this year, VillaJeluca. We pull into the lot next to Cap Caraibes and I entered the office. I am greeted by the receptionist who calls for Stephane, our escort and everything guy. We met Stephane two years ago when we rented another villa from the same place and he was of great assistance then. Stephane has us follow him out of Orient Village, across the main road and into the area known as Les JardinsD'Orient Bay. It is a gated community with about 50 villas. Villa Jeluca is on the top of the hill which overlooks Orient Bay and has a fantastic view. We visited this villa last year on our vacation, so we knew what our view was going to be. We could see the neighboring island of Pinel as well as the English island of Anguilla. The hills and mountains of St. Martin were on either side of us. We passed through the gate and headed up the road toward the villa. Planters were positioned on either side of the road to act as speed barriers. And ...... it worked. After about 100 yards we started our climb to the top of the mountain. Steep! Wouldn't want to have to do this in Pennsylvania in the winter when the cold weather came. We finally made our last hairpin turn and our last incline drive and turned into the drive of our villa. Just as we had remembered it. Beautiful, extremely private deck and plunge pool as well as a fantastic interior. House has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths, but since we are only using one of the bedrooms and one of the bathrooms, we pay accordingly. Much different than in the states. The living area, kitchen, bedroom and bath has a beach theme. What else could it be? The deck and pool area are phenomenal! And the view! We stayed at the villa for a few days of the vacation and didn't leave. What else could you want? Thefoliage and tropical flowers and vegetation were georgous. Almost too much, because our view of the Bay and neighboring islands was partially obstructed by all the palms and flowers. But hey, we got over it. Pool was about 5 feet deep at the most and we could sit on a step at the one end and read and eat. Perfect. And the bath ....... open the hurricane shutter and windows and you were showering outside. How Caribbean can you get. The house had internet access as well as US Satelite so we didn't miss a single episode of Dancing with the Stars or American Idol. This is our third villa that we have rented on St. Martin, and they seem to keep getting better!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs are from top: entrance road immediately past gate into Les Jardins D'Orient Bay, final approach to Villa Jeluca, Carol admiring the view from out pool, deck and pool area, bedroom, living room and kitchen.