Friday Fun On The Island

Despite various, short rain showers in the morning, the four of us, Barbara, Marylin, Jim and Dan took walks around Gustavia, stopping for breakfast at La Gloriette. That small Cafe is run by the same people who also make the delicious vanilla fun liquor. For lunch we drove to Lurin, to enjoy the beautiful view from Santa Fe, a French eatery in spite of its name. Then we drove to Gouverneur Beach nearby, where Jim enjoyed a swim in the ocean. For dinner we were in Saline, at L'Espirit, a restaurant famed not only for its food but also the outdoor tables amid greenery. - Dan

Wednesday And Thursday On St. Barth

Wednesday was a relaxing on-and-off rainy day in this Caribbean paradise. We took a long morning walk, visiting the amazing garden near the hospital. Lunch in Grand cul-de-sac overlooking its beach at Aux Amis proved a break in the weather. Dan started a new drawing of the harbor while Jim shopped in Gustavia. A highlight of the day was dinner at Eden Rock's Sand Bar, a Jean Georges restaurant. Later Dan wrote a brief restaurant review of the great meal at the Sand Bar, for a web site about all things on St. Barth's. Thursday morning Jim had one of his scuba dives; he enjoyed another successful dive in the afternoon. Dan played intermezzi and other works by Brahams on the piano at the Anglican church. The day's biggest event was the arrival of friends Barbara and Marylin from Boynton Beach, Florida via St. Maarten. After we met their ferry, and we stopped at the villa, we all headed to Eddy's restaurant for a celebratory welcome meal. - Dan

Tuesday Activities On St. Barth

The big activities of the day: Jim went on AM and PM scuba dives (see photos) and Dan left his painting of the historic Anglican church (1855) for the church's administrator, who is away in London. A filling lunch we made in the villa was followed in the evening with dinner at Le Quartier General, which capped a good day on the island. - Dan

Monday In St. Barth

Monday morning, we enjoyed a long walk through Gustavia to reacquaint ourselves with this lovely island, unique in the Caribbean. Then, for lunch we drove to Columbier to have a wonderful lunch at Les Bananiers. The duck confit, the daily special was indeed special, and Dan indulged in another molleux au chocolat (same as the fondant mentioned previously.) This time it was served with coconut ice cream. After a relaxing afternoon we had dinner at The Fish Corner. - Dan

Our Return To Lovely St. Barth

On Sunday, after our hours of flights and in-transit waits, we arrived at the airport in St. Jean, on St. Barth. Despite some rain, it seemed special to return to this beautiful island. Because Jim had some eye surgery last year, we were not here. This year we again rented the marvelous villa, high up on a hill in Gustavia, which overlooks the harbor. Jim wasted no time enjoying a relaxing soak in our private infinity pool. After unpacking we walked to Le Repaire for a delicious dinner, complete with a fondant au chocolat, the best dessert anywhere, a genius invention of French cuisine. - Dan

Last Day In Montreal

Saturday after breakfast and Jim's workout at the hotel's large gym, we headed to the Old Port, the oldest part of this sprawling city, where we visited the 19th century neo-Gothic Basilica of Notre-Dame. This cathedral has many carved, gilt details and is a popular tourist attraction, After that we took a taxi to the Museum of Fine Arts. A pleasant lunch of tortellinis was followed by visits to the galleries to see decorative arts, the old master collection and early 20th century Canadians (see the photo of a landscape by Tom Thomson.) In between touring the museum's collection, we attended a concert of Bach's Christmas and New Year cantatas in the Salle Bourgie, which at one time was a church, renovated in 1937-8 by Percy Erskine Nobbs, considered one of Canada's most important architects of the 20th century. Sunday morning we return to Philadelphia by air after a short but delightful visit to three Canadian cities. - Dan

An Art Pilgrimage

Friday morning we took a two-hour train to Ottawa to see the National Gallery of Canada. In the European/American art galleries there are masterpieces by Rembrandt, Rubens, Turner, Monet, Klimt and dozens of others, mostly high quality works by these great artists. In the Canadian art section, Dan particularly wanted to view the works of Tom Thompson and "The Seven," early 20th century landscape artists who captured the pristine beauty of their country. The mystical works of Emily Carr are also represented in the gallery. Readers, if you don't know the works of these talented Canadians, please look them up on Google for a visual feast. Paintings shown below are by Van Gogh, Severini ("Black Cat") and Tom Thompson. For dinner back in Montreal we ate at an old French restaurant, "L'Autre Saison," in a 19th century house. We could have been dining back in the 1950's, but the food was traditional and good. - Dan