Of Two Beaches And A Local legend

 

Flamands

Andy's Hideaway St. Jean



Taiwana at Flamands

Today’s big adventure was the trip to two beaches: Colombier and Flamande. Two years ago we trotted down the hill (& up the hill, as those who know the rocky paths will agree) to the Colombier Beach. Unfortunately, the rocky path is arduous and extremely difficult to maneuver. So this year we decided to drive past Petite Anse de Flamande (a small beach) to take the ‘other’ lower path to Colombier. Guess what? Those who have tried walking there will agree that this path, though less mountainous, is not much better than the other, higher route. There are still treacherous rocks all over the skimpy path, and plenty of places to trip. So after about 15 minutes Dan said to Jim, let’s skip this beach and relax on Flamande. Jim was persuaded and we retraced our steps back to the car. Colombier may be a beautiful, wild place but it is best reached by boat. We drove down to Flamande and Jim snorkeled in the waves on the large and picturesque beach. Then we enjoyed a very large and lavish lunch at the Taiwana Hotel. Jim had both a small pizza and the lentil salad, while Dan enjoyed the lobster salad, which is accompanied by mangoes, kiwi, greens and orange slices. One can rave about the trendy Bonito’s, but the portions are much more generous at Taiwana. Also, the bottles of wine are not outrageously priced, the way they are at Bonito. Though Bonito has a glorious setting, the wine is way overpriced, as a single bottle runs from75 Euros and up, much more than most island hot spots. After lunch we drove back to Gustavia for a relaxed afternoon at our villa. In the evening we returned to a truly friendly bistro, Andy’s Hideaway, one of the gems of St. Barth’s and a highlight of the town of St. Jean. Andy greets every guest and a very cordial host. Yet by the time our delicious salads with goat cheese arrived at our table, we noticed that Andy’s shirt was soaked, because he runs about his restaurant constantly. The fish at Andy’s was hearty, and served with either a green curry/cream sauce (very spicy) to a creole sauce on Dan’s selection. The desserts were a chocolate lover’s paradise: a fine mousse au chocolat, or better yet, the Fondant. We washed all of this down with a great bottle of red wine from Portugal’s Douro Valley.--Dan