Going Ashore in St. Barth

Also known as St. Barthelemy or St. Barts, depending on what you are reading. This is another of the French West Indies Islands. Unfortunately, neither of us speaks French so communication is a little challenging. Most of the people in businesses speak English with a French accent and a different emphasis on the syllables than our ear is accustomed.

We found the dinghy dock and Customs and Immigration quite easily on our first try! Some islands are more complicated than they need to be. The Customs agents were very helpful and friendly and all of the paperwork and payments can be done in one location right on the wharf. It was a little challenging as the computer keyboard on the French island is the QWERTY type, which means that the letters and numbers you think you are typing are not what always appear on the screen! Dennis is getting fairly efficient at it, though.

We wandered around the town and found the French bakery. Why go to a French island and not acquire some of the pastries and breads! These old towns have challenging infrastructures. The streets are narrow, no sidewalks in most areas in the old parts, open gutters and traffic squeezing through them.

We found two interesting churches: Anglican and Catholic.   

I was amazed at how thick the walls of the old buildings were. In the Catholic Church, the walls were two feet thick. The cieling over the alter was an interesting wooden semi-dome that created great acoustics. The Church was built up high on an old stone foundation. There was a funeral garden across the street with a shine and serene places to sit among the plantings.

We went into the Catholic Church and enjoyed
the design and cool peacefulness. 

La Route des Boucaniers 

Then it was time for a nice lunch on the wharf overlooking the harbor. We ate at La Route des Boucaniers, where I had the most wonderful quinoa taboule topped with crab and shredded lettuce. I would love the recipe. We found an Internet location and spent a couple of hours so Dennis could work on client issues. I was engrossed in “The Girl Who Played with Fire” while he worked.

All was well until I smashed my hand when it got caught between the dinghy and the concrete wharf as I was releasing the line. The next task was to keep from getting blood all over the teak when I climbed back on Trillium. Unfortunately, this was the first of several mishaps that did bodily harm to each of us! Nothing too serious, but not to be ignored due to the ease of becoming infectious in the salt water environment.