What a difference a day makes

This was the scene Monday morning on our deck:

Here's the view Tuesday afternoon from our room:

We're on Saint Martin in the French West Indies for a few days, getting some needed R&R. We'd been here before, when we were international travel neophytes. On a budget and unknowing in the ways of the tradewinds we stayed at Dawn Beach on the Atlantic side of the island (and the Dutch half). It was too windy to enjoy the beach, but the experience taught us something to avoid on future trips to the Caribbean.

This time we're staying in Grand Case on the French side, and being here feels like visiting the French countryside in many ways, except that nearly everyone speaks and understands English. This is also the gourmet dining capital of the Caribbean, and tonight we're planning to visit La Pressoir, on the recommendation of a client who recently rented an apartment in Barcelona. Thanks Thom!

Today we stopped in at Anse Marcel, a secluded bay with a great sand beach. Several upscale hotels surround the beachfront, which remains open to the public and popular with day trippers.

We're staying at the Bleu Emeraude, a quite new place right on the beach. The rooms are set up like apartments; ours is 45 square meters with a king bed, nicely equipped kitchen area, pleasant bath and small patio with a pair of lounge chairs. Nice! Kind of like a Paris apartment, only the weather's always great and there's an ocean outside. If you want to check it out, go to: www.bleuemeraude.com.