January 6 – Saint Barts
Marie Pierre and Pascale are two energetic French entrepreneurs who decided a few years back to invest their money and know-how and open a French restaurant in what was known many-many years ago as the Paris of the east: the city of Bucharest. Pretty soon they found a great location, on Dionisie Lupu Street, and were ready and eager to introduce the Romanians to the pleasures of French cuisine and joie de vivre.
Veterans of the struggle with the formidable French bureaucracy they were convinced they could successfully tackle any bureaucracy in the world.
But even with all the foreknowledge provided by the impressive Gallic officialdom, the pair proved no match for the well refined inefficiency of the Romanian bureaucratic machine.
They learned it the hard way, spending considerable amounts of time and money, fighting hard to progress through the convoluted Byzantine bureaucracy process that no matter what, incessantly demanded one more stamp or one more governmental form filed in before it will give them the green light to operate a French restaurant in Bucharest.
Today we've met Marie Pierre and Pascale on rue de la Republique in Gustavia where they run a successful business at a very safe distance from Romania’s draconian red tape.
As always, Gustavia's harbor is filled of yachts. The town is the capital of Saint Barts, a chic Caribbean island that lies about 35 kilometers southeast of St. Martin and north of St. Kitts. Christopher Columbus (who other?) was the first European to encounter the island in 1493. He named it after his brother Bartolomeo.
We've visited the island time and again, we enjoyed the action of the Bucket Regatta, and we spent beautiful sunny days here. But this is the first time when we'll introduce our son Dan to its white sandy beaches and chic hotels and restaurants.
We get into Barthloc's red mini Cooper and make the first mandatory stop at the hill overlooking Gustav III Airport.
Named after the Swedish king who acquired the island from France in 1784, it is an airport where pilots need a special license to shows they can land on its difficult tarmac.
Next stop to the belvedere above Anse a Colombier.
We stop to relax a couple of hours on the beach at Cheval Blanc.
Next stop - Eden Rock of Pipa's connection in Baie de Saint Jean.
Picnic and snorkel at Anse de Lorient - Orient Beach in the afternoon. Very different geography than St Martin's Orient Beach.
Short stop at Hotel Guanahani. Guanahani was the name given by the natives to the island of the first landing of Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492, which is believed to be the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas.
The hotel’s 30 rooms, 27 suites and 10 signature suites are located in vibrantly hued cottages which are scattered along garden paths that wind through lush bougainvillea, hibiscus and palms. They are spread out over 18 secluded tropical acres on a private peninsula between Anse de Marigot - Anse Marechal and Anse de Grand Cul-de-Sac.
If you are a scuba diving or snorkeling aficionado Club Med ‘Columbus Island’ on Guanahani (the Bahamian island of San Salvador) is definitely a good place to a visit.
Short stop at Anse de Grande Saline.
Brief visit at Anse du Gouverneur.
We couldn't end our visit of the island without introducing Dan to Shell Beach, one of my favorites, and my first stop on the first visit to the island. Full of shells, it is one of the most special beaches in the world. One of the ingredients that made it special for us is the restaurant.
The local restaurant is now called Shellona, but when we first visited it was still Do Brasil and one of the owners was Yanick Noah.
Remember him?
The guy not only won the French Open in 1983 and as was highly successful captain of France's Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams. But after he retirement from tennis he started a successful career as a music performer. Yannick is also the father of Joakim Noah of the NBA New York Knicks.
Overlooking Shell Beach and Gustavia is 17th-century Fort Karl, to which we say good-bye on our way back to the boat.
This chic French island was not always French. In 1758 it was taken over by the British for a short period of time, and in 1784 it was given by King Louis XVI to Sweden in exchange for trade rights in Gothenburg.
Valentin Tomescu
The journey continues