The French Side
Croissants and Coffee, with WiFi on the side.
I’m always impressed by the portability of good French cuisine. Whether it’s Montreal, Bora Bora or Marigot in French St Martin you can count on a good croissant and quality coffee.
Michele and I got off to a relaxed, late start on Monday morning and drove into Marigot to confirm the French breakfast quality. There were a bunch of choices. Convenient parking and a view of the sailboats in Marigot’s harbor decided for us.
Breakfast in Marigot
The coffee and croissants met expectations for French style. The big change was that everyone seemed to have a laptop. Free Wifi, convenient electrical outlets and island sunshine made a”virtual office” for what I took to be a mix of local residents and working vacationers. This has a lot of advantages over commuting to the office at home.
The Dutch Side
According to the guidebooks the population of St Martin is reasonably evenly split between the French and the Dutch sides of the island. But each side has specialties. Most of the best restaurants and beaches are on the French side. Most of the practical necessities are on the Dutch side. Practical necessities start with the airport and include real food markets.
20 years ago buying food for a week’s stay here was an adventure, even with plenty of restaurant meals factored in. Now the selection in the markets on the Dutch side is a lot closer to what we are used to at home. Heiniken and gouda cheese is in good supply. Inexpensive (and some expensive) wine from France, South Africa, Argentina and Chile is readily available. And I learned that there are more varieties of yogurt stocked here than I knew existed. Bottom line, you can feed six people the snacks, breakfasts and a couple of dinners here without going totally native.
Tags: Grandkids, Grandparents and Grandkids, House Rental, Parents and Kids, Spring Break, St Martin
