I flew a McDonnell Douglas 520 all around St. Bart’s across the sea to Anguilla and back over St. Maarten, landing on the stern of the SKAT (my friend Charles Simonyi's wonderful ship!) We took the doors off the chopper to facilitate picture taking. That took a bit of getting used to. It feels very scary to be secured by just a strap seat belt like in a car!
This is Gustavia, the Port of Saint Barts. Only a few great yachts can be "parked" here, and it’s in a first come, first served basis, in addition to large fees.
Industry and tourism vie for this bit of waterfront.
St. Barts, an island paradise, is part of the French Antilles. Known also during the high season as Manhattan Sur Mer, St. Barts is chic, expensive, beautiful, and varied topographically. Great food, amazing beaches, superb villas, and a great vibe have always made St. Barts one of my favorite vacation spots. It is small, eight square miles -mountainous and homogenous. Originally colonized in 1648 by the French, it was traded to Sweden by Louis xv in 1784 and later sold back to France in 1878. St. Barts emerged in the 1980's, when it became the chic island hideaway. I have been coming here since the 1970's, visiting friends with villas and swimming and boating in the turquoise waters. It is now the most popular gathering place for "super yachts" around Christmas and New Years.
The helicopter went from Gustavia to the west, clockwise around the island. You can see many great yachts in water.
On to Colombier, which is a white sand beach accessible by sea or by a long walk
L'orient where I stayed in one of the "Visionary" Villas perched inconceivably on a rock cliff over the sea. Built in the seventies it was the prototype villa for many others and the architecture was in keeping with St. Barts tradition of pointed roofs, many small buildings, great under the house water reservoirs for collecting rain water, and infinity pools.
Anse du Grand Cul de Sac - for more water sports- This is where the famous Lafayette Restaurant was and where I learned to wind surf years ago.
Pointe a Toiny, located on the east coast, is exposed to dry winds and colder water.
Anse de Grande saline, which is one of the great beaches in the world. There are white sand waves and beach plum shrubs for thousands of feet. The Grande Saline is an inland pond once used for obtaining salt.
Grand Pointe - the southernmost cliff of the island - Then north again to Gustavia Harbor and a good view of MY SKAT - the ship of Charles Simonyi and one last view of the harbor
Flying northwest over a small island on way to Anguilla
The long flat island of Anguilla, meaning eel - most northerly of the Leeward Islands, it is undergoing a massive tourist expansion as one can see best from the air. Hundreds of construction sites are taking advantage of long beaches and great surf.
Flying a bit southeast over the Dutch/French island of St. Maarten/St. Martin - very populated very touristy, however, great beaches, great water sports, and great shopping.
More to come!!
Thanks for sharing your fantastic photos of our favorite place. We leave for StBarts the end of this month and will be spending 4 weeks in a villa above Lorient. This will be our 15th trip, and to us it is sheer heaven.Sunset drinks @ Carl Gustaf's are a personal favorite!
Posted by: Denise Powell | January 08, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Hi Martha,
We live in the Cayman Islands and we are sure that we spotted Charlie's boat near our port during the month of December.
Hopefully, he got a chance to visit our wonderful island during the holidays? We came from the snow in Canada and aren't missing it at all with the gorgeous weather in the Carribean. Glad you had a wonderful holiday , great pictures.
Posted by: Jennifer May | January 08, 2008 at 04:37 PM
Lovely pictures. I forgot how beautiful the area can be any time of the year. As a child I loved to go to the beach, be in the water with friends. As an adult, I now fear the deep blue areas, beautiful as they are and cannot return. Thank you for letting be see the area again.
Posted by: M. Czl | January 08, 2008 at 08:32 PM
Martha, I just missed you at Hermes in SBH - again this year! One day our paths will cross. I always cook for my french friends and use many of your recipes. They can't believe an American can cook! We'll show them.
SBH was fun as usual - i have been going since 1989, and all though I am not on the boats at New Years we did have a great meal at The Wall House and shared in all the festivities at midnight.
All the Best in 2008!
William Gilmore
Posted by: William Gilmore | January 09, 2008 at 05:38 PM
Just watched you on TV about your holiday on the yacht and blog...my first time here and will be back.
Posted by: Jaymie Towle | January 09, 2008 at 09:03 PM
Beautiful photographs, thanks for sharing them. Betty
Posted by: Betty Nickels | January 09, 2008 at 09:12 PM
Anguilla has some of the very best restaurants in the Caribbean. The Straw Hat (owned by Peter and Ann Parles-USA)is my favorite! Seeing the photo of Long Beach makes me homesick for the island! Thanks for sharing the photos of Anguilla!
Posted by: Hope | January 10, 2008 at 12:19 PM