St. Martin
Breezeway from the guesthouse
What a great day… unfortunately it began with too little food so thank goodness I'd ferreted some fruit in with me! I got up and ate my banana, then came out to journal and have coffee. After sleeping in a couple of hours, Jonathan arose to make fruit plates - mango, plums, grapes, kiwi, etc., and we hung out awhile. I swam a little with my new water webs before the "crowd" gathered (Christian the butler, Charles the caretaker, the maids), so I got a slight upper-body workout.
We decided on a workout at the gym for Howard and a little shopping for me, so we dressed as Cristiaan got the car. By this time it was close to noon, so I grabbed about a half diet coke and a slice of bread, and we were off. We dropped Howard off at the hotel and the butler took me into the village of Marigot. I found a whole nest of shops, high-end to tourist, and purchased some French face and body soap, 3 pareos (sarongs), and a little workout outfit for tomorrow. The latter was actually a way-too-expensive dayglow t-shirt sporting the name 'St Martin' and a pair of shorts. They were very late in picking me up because Christaian had hired a "driver" who was supposed to know his way around. He said the guy took them into the next city and they had to double back!
View from the Hotel Samanna
We went onto the hotel Samanna terrace for a lovely lunch overlooking the emerald ocean. Sitting in an open, white-washed colonnade dining veranda, we watched the surf and the waves several stories below us, crashing upon the cliffs. For lunch, I had the tomato and buffalo mozzarella, then the Caesar chicken salad. Howard had the marvelous pureed Gazpacho and mixed grill kabob. Evian between us. Afterward, we decided to come back and enjoy the Villa rather than tour. I'm just not interested in sitting in the back of a car, with the neck of the driver and passenger as my view, seeing the same ol scenery through a plate of heavy glass. The villa definitely has the best features for me.
We laid in the sun awhile (I actually did 4 or 5 laps), snacking on dumplings with fire sauce and a Red Bull & Vodka. I've been reading my Harry Potter and writing. (right now, as evening falls, I watch the mosquitos literally swarm around this plant inside, next to the sofa).I wish we had bats to eat the mosquitos. All in all, a good day with plenty of sun and rest.
After a light breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, we went to workout at some little fitness place in Marigot. Ancient machines; I am spoiled. I ended up having a mediocre workout and I have found that it is very difficult for me to actually pull the circuit (like Howard does) without my trainer now. Speaking of: Howard really gave it his best; he always does when it comes to his physique. I did the bike, lifted a few weights, crunched my abs, while he did an all-out extensive muscle-producing workout. I was ready to go almost an hour before he was finished! The boys picked us up and took us back to the Villa. We arrived to find Charles (the caretaker) sitting with our "driver" from yesterday. I use that word loosely because the guy didn't know where he was, though he was a native of the island, but was demanding full pay for getting lost. Brilliant. I'm in the wrong line of work! So I'm thinking: some private Villa. It seems there is always someone around when I want to be alone. This is seclusion? I went ahead and donned my babing suit and jumped in the pool. I was hot, tired, and wanted to get a good swim in before our big brunch, which turned out to be bigger than big. It was enormous! (As I write, it is after our feast and Howard is presently resting, he needs it. Hell, I do, too, after that large intake!)
Brunch Menu: 5 egg-white omelets with zucchini and other vegetables. Dry toast on Jonathan's wonderful bread (a lot like King's Hawaiian bread - which we would NEVER eat in the states), cereal (raisin bran for me, Frosted Flakes for Howard) with yogurt, 2% milk, coffee with cream (lattes) and orange juice, like I really needed that Vitamin C boost, and fruit! Of course, he brought us more toast when we had finished our meal. I'm stuffed. They'll have to roll me out of here come Saturday!
I'm sitting in the shade of this HUGE parasol in the middle of the tiles, and I have sunglasses on. I am still squinting. The sun here is powerful strong and this is only our second full day! We will travel to Oriental Beach in a little while…
CoCo Beach Club on Oriental Beach!