The "A Few Favorite Meals While On Vacation" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Eating our first meal while on vacation at a restaurant known as "Le Piment" which according to Microsoft Translator means Chili Pepper in English.  It is our "go to" restaurant every time we travel to the Caribbean island known as St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  Our first evening on the island  sees us visiting with Crystal who is part owner with Sylvan at Le Piment which is located in Orient Village on the French side of the island.  When they see us arriving, they know exactly what we will be ordering, since it has been the same meal for the past 10 years or more.  Their fantastic prosciutto salad with an order of lasagna is more than enough to fill our travel weary stomachs.   Meals for Carol and I while on vacation are a real adventure for the two of us.  The nearby town of Grand Case, also on the French side of the island, is known as "The Gourmet Capital of the Caribbean" and all of the  restaurants located on either side of the road that parallels the Grand Case harbor have some of the most unique items on their menus.   For Carol and myself, we enjoy Grand Case, but find it easier to access the French restaurants that are only a few blocks from our villa in Orient Village.  This past vacation had us eating at many of the restaurants within walking distance as well as a few that were within a mile or less drive of our villa.  Follow along with my photographs as I show you some of the menu items we enjoyed at the variety of restaurants close to our villa.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

L'Atelier Restaurant in Orient Village.  A new experience for us this year.  Click to enlarge.

Their menu...in Euros

Carol's meal was local Mahi filet on fresh spinach. 

My meal was home made grounded beef steak.

Our waiter snapped a photo as we began our meal.

A nearby favorite in another part of Orient Village is La Plantation Restaurant.

We both had BBC drinks that looked amazing.

Carol had salmon with clams on risotto.

My meal was spinach stuffed ravioli in butter sauce.

The exterior of Le Piment in Orient Village.

I had the cheese ravioli in mushroom sauce.

Beef Stew with salad and fried potatoes with garlic

I also had the creme brulee for dessert.

Another evening Carol had the salmon with goat cheese and honey with scalloped potatoes and salad.

With every meal at Le Piment we are given a shot of MaDouDou Banana Vanilla rum at the end of the meal.  Carol finds it hard to drink most of it so I have to finish her shot for her.

The "Two Years And The Pounding Never Stops" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Listening to the constant hammering and pounding.  It seems to never cease!  It has been almost two years since Hurricane Irma struck the island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin on September 6, 2017 with greater force than had ever been recorded before in the Caribbean.   Many, many businesses and villas were totally destroyed or lost at least their roof.  Skilled labor is evidently hard to find on the island so many of the places in need of repairs have never been touched or have just begun to see the sight of a hammer and saw.  

The front of our villa in Orient Village.
Our realtor told us that it had waist-deep
water in it after the storm.  Most of the
villa needed repairs which have been done.

Carol and I were lucky to have found a vacation villa that we could rent for a few weeks in mid-April, but we found that most villas around us were just beginning to look like they did before the hurricane.  Behind us were two such villas that had workers on them every day of vacation.  And, on one side of our villa another group of workers worked on the roof of that villa.  Across the street in front of our villa was the same thing.  Many had to replace metal roofs so there was not only pounding, but the constant sound of metal saws.  The workers were covered from head to foot with light-weight clothing to protect them from the sun, but they had to be so hot working on a metal roof in 85 degree heat in the Caribbean sun.  Tends to slow you down thus extending the job a few extra weeks.  They did very professional work and the new roofs look spectacular, but the process is slowed down due to the unbearable  weather.  Late one afternoon, just as the workers were ready to call it quits for the day, I walked around the neighborhood in Orient Village snapping a few photographs of the work they were doing.  Take a look with me so you can see the extent of construction needed, even after two years of time.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Roofing supplies fill the front yards of many villas in Orient Village. Click on images to enlarge them.

Wooden shingles waiting to be used.

Entire areas hold construction supplies which are behind secure fences.

Scaffolding can be seen along every street of the village.

Workers put finishing touches to this overhang.

The scaffolding is very sturdy and safe.

This scaffolding is attached to the side of the villa.

These workers are finishing a sidewalk.  All concrete is hand mixed.

These are the two villas behind the villa we are staying in.  The roof on the left villa is almost complete while the roof on the villa on the right is perhaps half-way done.

This villa is next to our villa.  The workers were there for almost two weeks.

This is a nearby roof that is just beginning to take shape.

The results when finished is fantastic.  Very good craftsmanship!

Neat photograph of painters at work. I just love the colors.

Another pair of painters are putting the finishing touches on this villa.

The "Faces of Strangers: #53" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Stopped for a parking ticket and parked the rental in the parking lot at Bobby's Marina which is near the cruise terminal in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten.  Our journey today is so we can walk both Front Street and the Boardwalk in Philipsburg to do a bit of shopping, take a few photos for my blog and have lunch at the Creperie on the Boardwalk.  As we exited the parking lot on foot and headed over the concrete bridge that crossed a small waterway, we saw one of our favorite souvenir shops in Philispburg.  Place is called "Grandma's Gift Shop" and features island art, pocketbooks, beach clothing, jewelry and the traditional trinkets you would find in just about every gift shop in Philipsburg.  

Kathy from "Grandma's Gift Shop.

As we entered we were met with the bright face of Kathy who has run the shop for over 20 years.  Carol and I got to know her in the early 2000s when we began to take yearly vacations to the island.  Seems like every year we would stop to see what is new and end up talking to her about life on the island.  Kathy lives with her husband in the small village known as Grand Case which is on the French side of the island, about a 20 minute drive from Philipsburg which is the Capital of the Dutch side of the island.  Every visit we make to the island we try to visit with Kathy and take in all the latest about the island.  Today she shared that her mother lived in Paris, France and a lengthy conversation followed about the near destruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral.  We talked about the money that has been pledged to rebuilt the Cathedral and she said it's too bad that it couldn't  have been pledged to help with the poor and homeless who roam the streets of Paris.  Kathy is a very warm and welcoming French woman who told us about her recovery from Hurricane Irma which struck the island in the fall of 2017.  She told us of all the items she had lost at her shop as well as the damage to her place in Grand Case.  As we stood by the doorway her four-legged friend "Zoe" entered the shop to give Kathy a kiss.  Zoe is a Golden Lab that loves to greet the shoppers at "Grandma's Gift Shop.  Carol and I selected a small island print by watercolorist Mouche, wished Kathy the best and headed back to our next shop.  We will visit next year, once again, with Kathy.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "The Colors Of Saint Martin: Part II" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Yesterday I posted the first part of my latest set of photographs of the island of St. Martin while today I will post the second part.  All photos were taken with either my Nikon DSLR or my iPhone.  Hope you enjoy the last edition of photos that will give you an idea of the colors of the island.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Click on images to enlarge them.

I took a walk with my shoes on since the landscape is all coral.  These two birds, which are the size of ducks were the only  other visitors during the time I was there.

The coral was laden with many broken conch shells that were in all states of demise.

This little friend was watching me as I walked toward his home on Paradise View.

On one piece of land near the ocean the muddy surface had dried and broken and allowed this one flower to pop through it.

Another beautiful island flower.

Another variety of island flower.

One more view of our daily friend, Sammy.

Leading to the Ma Doudou rum store.

Colorful scarves at the Marigot market.

Colorful windows on a villa in Orient Village.

Our favorite island soda.  It has a grapefruit flavor to it.

This little guy climbed down the tree under which I was sitting.

One more visitor to our private pool we had at the villa we had rented.

Rain clouds gathering over the villas on top of Orient Village.

The fruit of an island tree.

Side entrance into the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church.  Beautiful island church in the town of Philipsburg.

A travel bag.  I took the photograph since it is the city in which I live in Pennsylvania.

This is my favorite island photograph I took this year.  Taken with my iPhone of a kite flying next to my beach umbrella.

The coral beach on the far East side of Orient Beach overlooks a colorful bay.