Douglas Easton Travel Blog
November 09, 2006

St. Barth, French West Indies

The word "paradise" easily comes to mind as one gazes out over the pristine, aquamarine sea and powdery sand beaches of St. Barth. This Caribbean outpost of France is one of the world's most envied holiday destinations.

A millisecond after alighting from our flight from Europe a few days ago, we ecstatically exchanged the heavy winter coats, scarves and gloves (in which we arrived swaddled like the Miochelin Man) for bathing suits, tank tops and sandals. Since then, our stay here has passed in an idyllic but depressingly rapid blur. Bobbing in the gentle waves of St. Barth's warm, crystalline waters, one forgets time entirely.

The island's charming, Lilliputian capital, Gustavia, crammed with fashionable shops patronized by shoppers exhibiting studied, casual chic, is like a small town somewhere on the Cote d'Azur... except that the prices are decidedly Fifth Avenue.

And the meals! Mon dieu! St. Barth probably has more restaurants per capita than New York. The cuisine drifts, naturally, toward the French, but it's mostly light and inventive. Except for the desserts, that is, which tend to be rich, gorgeous and irresistible.

Gary, Doug's best friend since they were children, has been the perfect host at his stunningly lovely estate in St. Jean, high on a hill and overlooking both the bay of St. Jean and the islands of St. Kitts and Saba in the distance. Our sole consolation at leaving Gary's Eden in the hills that we'll be back in just two months to ring in the new year... we can't wait!


Past Travel Blogs:
 06/08/10
 09/24/09
 09/09/09
 09/04/09
 08/27/09
 08/09/09
 07/19/09
 05/06/09
 04/25/09
 04/08/09
 04/02/09
 03/08/09
 03/06/09
 02/22/09
 02/10/09
 02/04/09
 02/02/09
 11/18/08
 11/12/08
 11/10/08
 11/06/08
 10/30/08
 10/20/08
 09/28/08
 09/16/08
 09/10/08
 09/03/08
 07/06/08
 05/30/08
 05/23/08
 05/11/08
 04/30/08
 04/20/08
 04/13/08
 04/08/08
 02/24/08
 02/16/08
 01/24/08
 01/08/08
 01/04/08
 01/03/08
 01/02/08
 01/01/08
 12/30/07
 12/29/07
 12/28/07
 06/01/07
 05/26/07
 05/22/07
 05/18/07
 05/04/07
 05/02/07
 04/10/07
 04/08/07
 04/03/07
 04/01/07
 03/31/07
 03/30/07
 03/26/07
 03/23/07
 03/20/07
 03/18/07
 03/13/07
 03/08/07
 02/17/07
 12/15/06
 12/13/06
 11/22/06
 11/04/06
 10/30/06
 10/25/06
 10/18/06
 10/12/06
 10/06/06
 10/03/06
 09/28/06
 09/24/06
 09/17/06
 
Douglas Easton Travel (310) 657-0263 FAX (310) 657-0253 email - info@CelestielleGroup.com