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St Maarten/St Martin |
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Beaches and weather: Betty Vaughan of
The Horny Toad
Guesthouse says that it has been hot and humid but as the wind shifted
away from the south, things got a bit better. Doesn't matter the beach is right
there! Carter at Turquoise Shell Inn says
the weather is
good and we are still getting almost daily tropical showers, sudden downpours
and sunshine, blue skies 15 minutes later. It does seem to be turning fall, if
that is really possible this far
south.
Construction: Carter at Turquoise Shell Inn says
that the seawall for
Shore Pointe, the luxury villas at Cupecoy Beach, has been stopped. It
appears that the government listened to somebody's complaints. You can register
your disgust with the Lt Governor on his website or via email, send an email to St. Maarten tourism
director Regina Labega, sign a petition at TTOL,
or send a letter to the
editor of the Daily Herald. The construction
feature has maps and more info on a lot of the construction on the
island.
Sapphire Beach Club: For those
of you who wish to sell or rent their week or unit, we have opened up the
Sapphire Beach
Club website for that purpose. The first ten
weekly listings are free. After that, we will charge $25 per year and have only
received two requests. So this offer is still out there.
Art at California Restaurant:
Zouzou says that for the summer, and possibly longer, she has a
seashell art exhibition in the restaurant containing mirrors, mobiles, jewelry
boxes, seashell boards, cards, and more. There are a couple examples on the
boutique page of the California website.
Photo features: This week's
photo feature
displays Orient in all its glory with an accent on the five sponsors of the
current contest. The secret photos also
have some shots of Marigot.
The winners of the Marigot contest were:
L'Esperance
Car Rental - $100 off a one week car rental - Bruce
Robinson
La Vie en Rose - $100 gift certificate
for two - Rosemary Stathis
Thai Garden - $100 gift certificate for
two - Karen Roberts
Saint Germain - $50 gift certificate for
two - Karen Roberts
Le
Marrakech - $50 gift certificate for two - Karen
Roberts
Several businesses in the Orient Beach area are sponsoring the contest that runs from 1 October until 15 November offering prizes totaling $350. Just click their name to go to their website, find the contest code(s) and the link to our new signup form, fill it out, click send, and you are entered. Put all the contest codes for the contests you want to enter on ONE entry. Do not send multiple entries.
Obviously everybody that is getting this
email is already signed up for the newsletter, but you are not automatically
signed up for the contest. You really do have to go to their website and click
the email link to show you visited their site. Just tell me you are already on
our mailing list, and I'll leave you signed up for the newsletter and just add
your name to the contest list. We have so many prizes that we will be doubling
and tripling up for several contests and producing feature photo spreads in
conjunction with the contests. Here is the list of future contests and feature
photo spreads:
Orient Beach Feature - 1
October to 15 November 2005:
Chez
Pat - $100 toward a day on Galion Beach
Kakao Beach
Bar - $100 toward a day on Orient Beach
Sol e Luna
Apartments - $100 off on a one week
stay
Nono Car
Rental - $50 off on a one week rental
Philipsburg Feature - 16 November to 15
December:
Vacation Suites - a free low season
week!
Lucky/Hibiscus
Cars - $100 off a one week car rental
Antoine
Restaurant - $100 off a meal for two
DK
Gems - $100 gift certificate
Karen and Pascal's Restaurants - 16 December 2005 to 6 January
2006
Auberge
Gourmande - $100 off a meal for two
Montmartre Restaurant - $100 off a meal
for two
Sunset Café - $100 off a
meal for two
Panoramic Car
Rental - $100 off a week's car rental
On 24 August the euro was at 1.231 and
today it is at 1.207. That's
fairly steady and fairly good, about what the euro was when it all started about
five years ago.. French side restaurants with many costs in dollars and many
American (or Canadian) clients have been offering more favorable exchange rates.
Some restaurants offer a 1 to 1 exchange. Note that some only offer this rate
for cash. As always, know what the euro is worth, what the restaurateur is
offering for an exchange, and what the costs are on the menu. Finally, you are
here to have fun and fine food, not to do complex financial calculations, so
don't worry about it too much.
Christian at Sol é Luna
Restaurant has told me that they will be opening on 7 October
with a new menu and they will be doing 1 for 1 on the euro.
Maryline at Le Mambo
Restaurant has just opened and sent me a new menu. It will be
up on the website soon.
Dare to be Rare:
Dino says they have finally opened and he believes that it is the only
steakhouse in the world with an Indian Tandoor oven. We hear the food is over
the top tasty.
Paris Bistro
and The Wharf
Restaurant: New for the slow season: Buy
one main course at the regular price and get the second one of equal or lesser
value at 50% off. Go to the websites and print out the coupon.
Hot Tomatoes: We are waiting for more Hot Tomatoes comments. It's on the website and
before we return in December, somebody will win a pair of pizzas and a bottle of
red. Just send us some comments and we'll pick a winner.
Slow food: The 24 August
2005 newsletter started the discussion on slow food. Mediterranean
Cooking by Paula Wolfert is a great guide to preparing healthy
and tasty food. We recently prepared a moussaka based on the
recipe on page 238. We used our own eggplant and new potatoes and yogurt and
ground lamb from 3-Corner Field
Farm here in Salem, NY. The photo isn't beautiful but the tastes are
fantastic, especially when accompanied by a sturdy Rhone wine (Cote du Rhone or
a Gigondas). Moussaka is Greek and I don't know of a Greek restaurant on the
island, but lamb is often found Moroccan restaurants and one of the finest on St
Martin is Marrakech
Restaurant in Marigot. A totally different approach, using the finest
cuts of lamb (ie, the chops) rather than the ground up trimmings can be found in
many restaurants. I have always liked the lamb chops at Bistrot Caraïbes, La Vie en Rose, and Spiga
Restaurant, but even more casual places like Hot Tomatoes
Restaurant, and Pineapple Pete's frequently have very tasty lamb
chops.
Books: I just read Garlic
and Sapphires : The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl ($16.47,
$9 used) - As someone who comments on three to
four restaurants per week in high season, I obviously was quite interested in
this book, but it's not just me as Amazon.com writes: Reichl is an absolute
marvel when it comes to writing about food--she can describe a dish in such
satisfying detail that it becomes unnecessary for readers to eat. In her third
memoir, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise,
Reichl focuses on her life as a food critic, dishing up a feast of fabulous
meals enjoyed during her tenure at The New York Times. As a critic, Reichl was
determined to review the "true" nature of each restaurant she visited, so she
often dined incognito--each chapter of her book highlights a new disguise, a
different restaurant (including the original reviews from the Times), and a
fresh culinary adventure. Garlic and Sapphires is another delicious and
delightful book, sure to satisfy Reichl's foodie fans and leave admirers looking
forward to her next book, hopefully about her life with Gourmet.
.
| Restaurant | Dates |
| Antoine | no closing in 2005 |
| Baccara | no closing in 2005 |
| Bamboo Bernies | bar open all season, but closed on Tuesdays kitchen closes for September 2005 |
| Bistrot Caraïbes | 28 May - 4 June 2005 Sep 2005 |
| Chez Pat | no vacation, but closed on Monday 2005 |
| Le Cottage Restaurant | mid August - 6 October 2005 |
| Escapade | no vacation closing |
| Le Mambo | 8 August to 5 September
2005 |
| La Marine | 24 April - 1 November 2005 |
| Oizeau Rare | early May until mid-June 2005 |
| Rainbow Café | 20 August to 20 October 2005 |
| Sol é Luna | 20 June to July 11 2005 |
| Temptation | no closing in 2005 |
| Endless Summer Swimwear | Aug 29 - Sep 11 |