Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

Philipsburg is the capital of Sint Maarten. You've probably noticed by now that the French and Dutch side have their own way of spelling out the name of their island. I think this makes for a very long country name, especially when some people write it as Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten!

But never mind that. Look at how blue the water is!

On the main shopping strip, Front Street, we see some piranhas.

Seashells.

We make a stop at their famous Emporium. While Howard picks up a souvenir bottle, I look around outside.

The pretty border decor on the outside of the shop.

Across the street, the most enticing alley I have ever seen. It is just beckoning me to come closer. I think I can live on the second floor balcony forever.

We didn't want to go back to the cruise ship for lunch, so we went looking for a few restaurants that a certain guidebook recommended. We had no idea where it was (we should have brought a map) and just as we were going to pick any place to eat, we found it!

It was way past lunch time by then or maybe it was a quiet Tuesday. Or maybe it was the service? They weren't the friendliest people we met.

Antoine Restaurant has a great view of the boardwalk and beach. You can even eat "outside" beside the boardwalk.

Wanting something simple, I had originally ordered the Linguine Napolitana, consisting of tomato sauce, basil, olive oil, and garlic. I even pointed to it on the menu and I'm pretty sure the server repeated our orders back. But somehow I ended up with the Seafood Linguine - seafood, olive oil, garlic, parsley. Not wanting the food to go to waste, I kept it.

Howard got what he ordered, Spaghetti Pescatore - anchovies, basil, garlic, and olive oil. At first, I thought his dish was mine since I knew that mine wouldn't have any kind of fish or seafood.

We explored the charms of Old Street before heading back to the ship.

No filters or photoshop. Just the coolest evening I've ever seen while our boat sailed away.

Marigot, Saint-Martin

Marigot is the capital on the French side of Saint Martin. Upon arriving at Philipburg, we left our cruise ship and took a boat to visit Marigot. Our tour guide/DJ/singer on the boat was Shine. He had a song for every occasion. According to the other passengers, his singing sounded better after a few of the complimentary rum.

Here are some of the sights we saw in the hour stay on the French side of the island:

The tour boat was docked at the Marina Royale. There are so many beautiful patio restaurants here. Some  smelled really good, but most were not open yet since it was still early.

Yes, French is the primary language on this half of the island, although, most people speak English.

Pink!

Blue!

Orange!

As if the buildings weren't colourful enough, there was a whirl of colours in the flea market.

Hmm, didn't notice any vehicles carrying food when we were there.

One stall had over two dozen bags of spices.

Another vendor had homemade rhum.

We couldn't leave without picking up two chocolate croissants!

We'll miss you lil Paris!