St Barts - Your First Visit
The
5 senses are the ultimate experience of St Bart’s and you
can do just that exploring the categories below.
The twenty-two beaches on St. Barth are a real treat. Baie
de St. Jean vies with Anse de Lorient for the calmest water. You can see the surf breaking over a reef
a hundred yards away, but it's as calm as a swimming pool at the
beach. Once in a while the windsurfers can catch a wave just right
on the airport side of Baie de St. Jean and get
airborne. But the swimming is easy, perfect for the kids. At Anse
de Lorient, you can snorkel out to the reef and look around.
There is also good windsurfing at Anse du Grand Cul de Sac,
and you can snorkel out to the offshore reef, where the view is
indistinguishable from Lorient. In fact, this picture was taken
at Anse de Lorient or Grand Cul de Sac,
but I can't remember which.
The drive to Anse du Gouverneur, is down a mountain;
the view is nice, so drive slowly enough to enjoy it and not fall
off the road. The mountain marches on down into the sea on a steep
slope, leading to enough surf to generate an undertow. Since the
beach is also clothing optional, this may not be your best pick
for bringing the kids, unless they're strong swimmers and don't
giggle at naked people.
Anse de Grande Saline, where these two were wading
in the water, has excellent swimming and a nice offshore rock at
the southern end of the beach with sergeant majors and angel fish
lurking about. There was an oil spill somewhere that washed up on Grande Saline, so be prepared to have tar on your
feet and fins after you wade in. This beach is also clothing optional.
If you've never sunbathed nude before, there is enough unoccupied
beach at both Gouverneur and Grande Saline to take the opportunity. Be sure to put on plenty of sunblock before
you leave your room; waiting until you get to the beach will guarantee
a burn.
If you drive north past Anse des Flamands, with
its long golden beach, until the road ends at Petite Anse, you will
come to a goat path that leads to the end of St. Barth and then
crosses back over to the Caribbean side, one of St Barth's many
nice hikes. There you will find some steps leading down to Anse
du Colombier. This is a long, U-shaped beach with probably
the best snorkeling on the island. Facing away from the beach, you
will see Sint Maarten in the distance, and you may even see a cruise
ship lying off Philipsburg. To your left will be a strange blue
pyramid. This is a guest house built for and originally owned by
David Rockefeller, but rumor has it that it is now owned by Harrison
Ford. The cliffs to your right tumble down into the water and become
a jumble of rocks where you will see angelfish, sergeant majors,
blueheads, parrotfish, and maybe even a pair of cuttlefish.
If you have your sea legs you might want to take a sail to Ile Fourchue
where the snorkeling is wonderful and don’t forget to take
along a lunch catered by Premium IV , quiche lorraine, salad, roast
chicken, cheese, and a tart for desert, beer and champagne.
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St Barts is a tiny rock set in the Caribbean Sea, incredibly prestigious
thanks to its population who have preserved not only the island
but the art of living as well. Natives are extremely discreet men
and women. Family life is of the utmost importance and often grandfather,
father and children live in the same little village. Here, traditional
values are unquestionable and one’s word is sacred.
St Bart’s people take great care of their environment. Their
homes are cozy but strong enough to withstand hurricanes. The residents
from France and other countries live in one city , Gustavia, and
a dozen villages.
Quite
a few St Bart’s are fishermen or builders as others are making
a living with the tourist industry. There are, of course, the handicrafts,
the sweet doll-like cottages, the colorful fishing skiffs, and the
woven straw. And, the traditional local music that can provide a
lively atmosphere at island music and film festivals.
Occasionally you'll see St. Bartians dressed in the provincial costumes
of Normandy and speaking Norman French. In little Corossol, more
than anywhere else, people sometimes follow customs brought from
17th-century France. You might see elderly women wearing the traditional
starched white bonnets, at least on special occasions. The bonnets,
known as quichenottes (a corruption of "kiss-me-not"),
served as protection from the close attentions of English or Swedish
men on the island. The bonneted women can also be spotted at local
celebrations, particularly on August 25, St. Louis's Day. Many of
these women are camera-shy, but they offer their homemade baskets
and hats for sale to visitors.
There are no high-rise resorts (the largest hotel boasts 76 rooms);
no golf course, few tennis courts, no casinos or Liberace-style
crooners. No sign of hang-ten culture or ecofriendly campgrounds.
Even waterskiing is scarce. Nightlife consists of starlit strolls
on the beach and lingering memorable dinners capped off, perhaps,
with Veuve Cliquot in an intimate piano bar.
St. Barts enjoys a thriving economy with low unemployment and almost
non-existent crime rate. Visitors to St. Barts enjoy the island's
beauty and serenity without concern for their personal safety.
Many of the local inhabitants are descendants of the early settlers
from Brittany and Normandy and their language still reflects traces
of the Norman French.
Thou
located in the English speaking part of the Caribbean. English however
is only one of the languages spoken on the island. The official
language is French. Creole, which steams from French, is spoken
in the windward part side. Regional French known as “patois”
is spoken in the leeward areas and finally, Guadeloupe Creole can
often be heard in Gustavia. Where the Swedish influence remains
to this day as does the distinction of being a duty free port.
Because
of stringent building regulations, St Barts never became a destination
for mass tourism and today is the paradise for millionaires in the
Caribbean.
St Barthelemy is in the middle of the turquoise ocean, situated
near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles group in the West Indies.
At a distance of 200 kms from the island of Guadeloupe and 25 kms
from Saint-Martin.
It is a mountainous island of 25 sq kms, whose only flat area is
occupied by the airport’s runway.
As the climate is rather dry, agriculture has never been developed,
thus throughout history few slaves had ever been employed. For the
most part, St. Bartians are descendants of Breton and Norman fisherfolk.
Many are of French and Swedish ancestry, the latter evident in their
fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes.
The
inland is dry and mountainous, the highest peak is at 300 m above
sea level. Stonewalls separating the parcels of land reflect the
origins of the inhabitants.
Rent
a small offroad vehicle, lift off the top and discover the island
– on the narrow, winding roads you hardly ever exceed 50 km/h.
Folklore claims that the entire road system on the island is paved-over
goat paths.
The landscape is characterized by green rolling hills (highest top:
938 ft, Morne du Vitet), and 22 white sandy beaches, all public,
most sheltered by a coral reef and some only accessible by foot.These
beautiful beaches lend themselves to water sports, from windsurfing,
scuba and snorkeling to jet skiing, sailing and deep-sea fishing.
The island's other claim to fame is its fine dining, considered
among the best in the Caribbean. Lunch or dinner at one of the island's
top restaurants can be a major splurge.
Not
long ago, St. Barts was a clandestine hideaway of Rockefellers,
Rothschilds, and their lucky confidants: the celebrated, the wealthy,
the globally glamorous. When Mariah Carey wants to throw a birthday
bash or Leonardo di Caprio decides to host a New Year's Eve party
on his chartered yacht, St. Bart's is the island of choice. The
favorite of celebrity jet-setters,
Now,
though this snug, delectably French island hosts a more democratic
crowd, it retains an elite yet casual aura and continues to lure
travelers who seek a vacation as classy as it is restful and scenic.
You come to St. Barts for the relaxation, the French cuisine, the
white-sand beaches, and the ultimate in comfort.
Islands of the Caribbean all have a history and St. Barthelemy,
a volcanic land mass of only 8 ¼ sq miles has history that
can be read in the streets of Gustavia or by putting a shell to
your ear. When discovered in 1493 by Christopher Columbus and named
after his brother Bartolomeo. The native Carib Indians ferociously
resisted all attempts by these Europeans to settle on the island.
In 1629, the West Indian islands were coveted by English, the Dutch
and the Spanish. The island of St Barthelemy became a strategic
point on the chess board for the various European rivals.
In 1648 St Barthelemy was settled by French colonists who were living
on the nearby island of St. Kitts. This early settlement did not
prosper and in 1651 the island was sold to the Knights of Malta.
Five years later it was again raided by the fierce Carib Indians,
and remained abandoned until 1673,
In 1673 the island was again settled by Frenchmen from Normandy
and Brittany and became a part of France and a part of the government
of Guadeloupe
This time the colony was successful and by 1687 had a population
500. The source of much of that prosperity were French buccaneers
who swarmed to the island, bringing with them vast quantities of
plunder taken from Spanish galleons. Monbars the Exterminator, a
famous buccaneer, reputedly maintained headquarters in St. Barthélemy
and his treasure is believed to still be hidden somewhere between
Anse du Gouverneur and Grande Saline.
Except
for a brief takeover by the British in 1758, during the Seven Years
War ( 1756 – 1763 ), St. Barthélemy remained French.
In 1784, Louis XVI negotiated the exchange of the island with the
king of Sweden Oscar III for a warehouse in Goteberg Harbor. The
Swedes took over, renamed the harbor Gustavia in honor of their
King and declared it a neutral free port in 1785. Swedish settlers
arrived and made fortunes in trade as commercial traffic transited
through the newly named harbor of Gustavia. The 19th century was
not kind to St. Barts. Numerous misfortunes including hurricanes,
droughts, yellow fever epidemics, and a disastrous fire descended
upon the island. As steam power replaced wind, ships were able to
take more direct routes to and from American ports, bypassing St.
Barts creating commercial competition from surrounding islands.
In
1813, ridding itself of an increasingly heavy economic burden, the
king of Sweden Oscar III proposed giving St.Barts back to France
for 320,000 francs. The treaty was signed on March 15, 1878. The
provisions of this agreement required that the island remain duty
free and that the population never pay taxes! The French flag flew
once again on the island of 8 ¼ sq miles. And the free port
status remained, and still does today, along with such Swedish mementos
as a bit of architecture, a cemetery, a couple of street signs,
and, of course, the name of the harbor and capital, Gustavia.
Since 1947, St Barts administratively is a French commune (commune
de Saint-Barthelemy) part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas region
and overseas department of France, and therefore part of the European
Union. In 2003 the population voted in favor of secession from Guadeloupe
in order to form a separate overseas collectivity of France. However,
as of the end of 2005 Saint-Barthelemy is still part of the region
and department of Guadeloupe.
John
Day
President of Premium
IV
Total Destination Management St Barts
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