St Martin

Instead of a big party for George's 50th birthday we decided on a trip with the family some place tropical. In the past we have always enjoyed resorts that have an all inclusive plan but this time we were looking for something different.  We wanted an island we could explore on our own and would have plenty to do for all of us.  What we came up with was St Martin which up till now I was not all that familiar with. When we arrived at the airport we were meet by Mickael with Banana location car rental, who drove us to our condo where our cars were waiting. It was nice not to have to navigate how to get there plus we got plenty of information about the island. A rental car is a must here if you plan to go any where and Banana certainly provided a service in driving us. Taxis are few and prices are very high.

 We rented a  beachfront condo on orient beach for the week which is just perfect for our crew. Once here we were ready for a swim and lunch. Right on the beach next to our place is Waikiki beach a place to sun,drink, eat, & play so that was our first stop.
We are on the French side of the island & everything is in Euros which we came it find out can be very expensive at the end of the meal. I am not one to talk about prices but $192.00 for 6 people for burgers & a few drinks is very pricey in my book. We are going to have to rethink a few things like where is the grocery store?

Landry Soap

   That was our next shop US Market which was a bit of an adventure in itself. First you need coins to get a cart so we needed to exchange some money.  Do not be fooled by the name of the market US it's a French market and every is in French. It made it a bit interesting deciding what some of the items were, easy to figure out eggs & bread but there were a few items that without pictures it would be hard to know what exactly it was.


The best part was the cheese & wine. After seeing the selections & prices that more then made up for lunch. No bags, it's like shopping at Costco which is fine until your back & have to carry everything up the stairs.

  For dinner we found a great restaurant we could walk to Little Italy. The food was wonderful, good wine, friendly servers, & less then lunch.
    Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.