In April we spent 8 days in St. Martin. St. Martin is a small Caribbean island. It is part of the French West Indies. Half of the island belongs to France and half to the Netherlands. From St. Louis we flew to Puerto Rico and then on to St. Martin. It takes the good part of a day to make the trip.

We stayed on Orient Beach at L'Hoste Hotel. This small hotel (28 rooms) sits right on the beach. We had a first floor room. Due to the landscaping we could not see the beach. Rooms on the second and third floors cost more but you can see the beach from their private decks. The good thing about our room - no stairs! With the room we received a free breakfast, beach towels, umbrella, and chairs. Our room had cable TV, microwave, and a refrigerator. It was very comfortable.

The resorts are smaller and more intimate on the French side. The Dutch side has high rise casinos. It's best to avoid the "all inclusive" resorts. Instead try all of the fantastic french restraunts.

Here I am at Fort St. Louis overlooking Marigot. This is the capital of the French side. We did go over to the Dutch side a couple of times, but I just liked the French side better. There is one two lane road around the island. Its only about 35 miles around. All of the signs are in english. The only thing to watch out for is the crazy motorcycle riders.

Claudia

I went scuba diving 5 times. On one dive Claudia snorkeled while I dove. This is the first time I have ever seen sharks while diving. The visibility was great. Most dives were around 50 foot.

Every morning we walked the beach. Round trip is about 3 miles. These two pictures are taken from the same spot. The one of the left is facing north. That is the hotel Mt. Vernon. The one on the right is facing south. Our hotel was about in the middle, about a half of a mile south of where this picture was taken.

Yes that's the HSL license plate hanging at a beach bar in St. Maartin. It's called Baywatch and the owner's name is Andy. He's from New Jersey. He came down to island and never left. This is just a beautifull place,

One day I swam from O.B. to a small island called Green Key. I had a guy take this picture of me on Green Key. That's O.B. in the background. Another day we took a water taxi to Pinel Island. We walked around the island, snorkeled, and had a great lunch. The picture to the right is me standing on top of Pinel.

Sunset from the Sunset Beach and Bar Grill. Ask Claudia about the Long Island Ice Tea.

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