St. Barts :
A Jetsetter's Dream
A Tropical Francophile Heaven
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life.
Nearly everything on the island is imported and the tap water is desalinated sea. Some of St. Barth’s 8,500 residents think it’s growing too fast, but the islands' movie theatre is still an open-air affair showing one movie each Friday. Anyone visiting this paradise feeling like they still need to get away from it all should experience Le Toiny’s curve of the isle.
www.letoiny.com for more on the quiet side of this island and the deluxe villa resort that embraces its awe.
WALKABOUT
In any country, I trust long walks to create an intimate connection with its soul. The five-mile hike from Le Toiny to Saline Beach is not for everyone—it makes you realize that parts of this island are still completely wild. The first stop is the famed Washing Machine, a tiny cliff-encircled surfers’ beach not recommended for amateur swimming. From there, the hike turns into a bushwhack along the arid ridgeline navigating cactus colonies and thorny brush while scaring packs of wild goats. The meandering trails here are indeed mislaid goat tracks. When half a mile long, pristine Saline Beach, one of the island’s nude options, came into view after the two-hour trek, the vacation restarted—there was even a soundtrack provided by a bobbing offshore party boat.
Saint Barthélemy is a French Territory originally colonized in the mid-seventeenth century. Sweden ‘borrowed’ it from France from 1784 until 1878. Today, also being a French Subsection means they can vote in French elections—hopefully they won’t adopt France’s knack for going on strike. The indigenous people called the island Ouanalao…imagine if they could chime in. The Carib Indians also once inhabited this storied isle. They specialized in decapitating visitors’ heads. Caribbean history, though multihued, is seldom an easygoing read. Has the peace returned here? Oui. French wine has a way of doing that.
On a mission to smell all of the earth’s blossoms, I’ve explored 125 countries hunting their bliss—some people call it travel writing. Patriotism, from my perspective, means improving every country. It seems as if St. Barth’s is all set. I strive to be a frontline worker in the battle against boredom and bad news. Again, this island seems immune to the harsh realities gripping the rest of the planet. St. Barth’s makes you wonder, can life really be this fabulous? Anybody you meet that’s also visiting this jewel in the French West Indies shares the sense that today is a very special occasion—with a dash of swank. Pinch.
ST. BARTH’S VIA FOOT
Though not a typical visitor undertaking, this storied isle has masterpiece hiking. From Le Toiny, there are two charming hikes that celebrate its ideal location and help burn croissant calories.
1. The easier hike from your villa is out to Pointe a Toiny, the mountainside bluff comprising part of the resorts’ view. The hillside trail resembling a dry Big Sur leads past a lagoon and rocky surfing beach to a breathtaking 270-degree water overlook.
2. Petit Cul-de-Sac (a beach, this ain’t the burbs) is a 20-minute downhill stroll to a non touristy arc of seaside sand and views of two lightly populated peninsulas; the place to go for private sunsets. Expect a visit from a friendly dog.
Easy Time Tours is a splendid van ride roam with a twelfth-generation islander, www.stbartheasytime.com.
St Barth Essentiel wants to keep St. Barth’s unspoiled for future generations, www.stbarthessentiel.com. Helene Bernier, is a one-woman tour-de-force opposing a wave of overenthusiastic development on the island presenting itself primarily as Russian billionaires buying out traditional family home plots and building unsustainable mansions.
Kicked-back Maya’s Restaurant has huge seafood portions; owned by affable, relocated Americans, www.mayas-stbarth.com.
Getting here requires a stopover on nearby St. Maarten. The 10-minute flight between islands can be an epic whale and orca-watching opportunity.
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