St. Martin electricity, etc.

We're headed to St. Martin from 16 to 29 December, our first visit. Does the
220vac service in St. Martin use the standard French two and three prong plugs?

Has anyone stayed at the Beach Plaza Hotel, and do you have any cautions or
recommendations?

Any recommendations for places to eat in Marigot? We generally have our larger
meal at lunch time, and a lighter meal at supper.

Thanks -- Larry

On 10/24/2007 11:07 AM pltrgyst plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger and
said:
We're headed to St. Martin from 16 to 29 December, our first visit. Does the
220vac service in St. Martin use the standard French two and three prong plugs?

Has anyone stayed at the Beach Plaza Hotel, and do you have any cautions or
recommendations?

Any recommendations for places to eat in Marigot? We generally have our larger
meal at lunch time, and a lighter meal at supper.

Thanks -- Larry

Beware! You might find yourself on the beach at lunch time and you won't
want to get up from your lounge. In some tropical locations noon tends
to be a time to kick back. After sunset things liven up. Don't be
alarmed if you break your routine and "go native".

If you don't get many responses, just use your nose and eyes to pick out
a place to eat. Does it smell inviting? Is there a healthy number of
people there? If they post a menu, does it fit your budget? Is the menu
intriguing but comprehensible? If so, then go ahead. I'm sure that's
what you do.

If you find that you've eaten more than you normally would, don't
panic. Find a club in the evening and go dancing! You're on vacation,
enjoy, indulge have fun!

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

We went to St. Martin last year. I do not know anything about the hotel.
I really found a lot of information on a site. Traveltalkonline.com.
--You can get many questions answered on resturants or anything about
the island. Enjoy your stay

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:19:42 -0400, Brian K wrote:

Beware! You might find yourself on the beach at lunch time and you won't
want to get up from your lounge. In some tropical locations noon tends
to be a time to kick back. After sunset things liven up. Don't be
alarmed if you break your routine and "go native".

Thanks for the suggestions, but not likely. We've spent a lot of time in Mexico
and other Latin American countries, just not much in the islands. And we're more
likely to play tennis in the morning, then walk or scooter around the island and
shop for a couple of hours, then kill the first half of the afternoon having
lunch, then hit the beach until sunset. Followed by a light supper and some
reading. We're not really night people at our advanced ages (61 and 53). 8

If you don't get many responses, just use your nose and eyes to pick out
a place to eat. Does it smell inviting? Is there a healthy number of
people there? If they post a menu, does it fit your budget? Is the menu
intriguing but comprehensible? If so, then go ahead. I'm sure that's
what you do.

Yes, pretty much. We spend two or three weeks a year wandering around France and
other European countries without any set plans, and we're confirmed -- and
experienced -- foodies.

If you find that you've eaten more than you normally would, don't
panic. Find a club in the evening and go dancing! You're on vacation,
enjoy, indulge have fun!

Geez, Brian, you should be a combination travel agent and cheerleader!

-- Larry

In article ,
pltrgyst wrote:


Yes, pretty much. We spend two or three weeks a year wandering around France
and
other European countries without any set plans, and we're confirmed -- and
experienced -- foodies.



Then you really want to eat in Grand Case, up the road from Marigot. The
places around the Marigot Marina Royale are decent French Bistros or
Brasseries. I've eaten at most of them but the real food is in Grand
Case but most of those restaurants don't serve lunch. You could eat for
several weeks in Grand Case and never repeat a restaurant.

On Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:42:17 -0700, Tamzen Cannoy
wrote:

Then you really want to eat in Grand Case, up the road from Marigot. The
places around the Marigot Marina Royale are decent French Bistros or
Brasseries. I've eaten at most of them but the real food is in Grand
Case but most of those restaurants don't serve lunch. You could eat for
several weeks in Grand Case and never repeat a restaurant.

Thanks. Yes, we are planning on a lot of meals in Grand Case. Didn't know that
many of the restaurants there are dinner only, though. That might make us
re-plan our daily schedules.

But you touched on exactly what I was hoping for -- a recommendation or two for
those brasseries in Marigot with the best confit, onglet and frites, etc.

-- Larry

In article ,
pltrgyst wrote:

On Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:42:17 -0700, Tamzen Cannoy
wrote:

Then you really want to eat in Grand Case, up the road from Marigot. The
places around the Marigot Marina Royale are decent French Bistros or
Brasseries. I've eaten at most of them but the real food is in Grand
Case but most of those restaurants don't serve lunch. You could eat for
several weeks in Grand Case and never repeat a restaurant.

Thanks. Yes, we are planning on a lot of meals in Grand Case. Didn't know
that
many of the restaurants there are dinner only, though. That might make us
re-plan our daily schedules.

But you touched on exactly what I was hoping for -- a recommendation or two
for
those brasseries in Marigot with the best confit, onglet and frites, etc.

-- Larry

Start he http://www.marigo****erfront.com/

I've eaten at Le Village, La Belle Epoque, Main a la Pate, Chanteclair
and several of the others. Drink any home made rum punches that they
offer.

http://www.grandcase.com/restaurants.html is decent info on Grand Case.

I have a very long dining report that I can post or send you from a trip
3 years ago now.

Larry
Your hotel is at the north end of the village of Grande Case. Right now the
Grande Case rest. are having a snit about North Americans as the president
of France is using Canadians to help him cut out the feather bedding, union
power back in France.
ie those retiring at 50 at full pension. Grande Case was too expensive for
us to eat there. A dead town at lunch time.
Tiss a far way to Marigot, have not seen any cars or scooter rentals in
Grande Case, lots of car rental companies at the airport. we use
www.netscape.com for our car rentals. Almost all day on the island is rush
hour traffic. email if you want more info.
darrom1 at shaw.ca We are back there in Dec for our monthly stay. One
site with a bit on St Martin is www.geographia.com Caribbean St Martin.
"P L" wrote in message
...
We went to St. Martin last year. I do not know anything about the hotel.
I really found a lot of information on a site. Traveltalkonline.com.
--You can get many questions answered on resturants or anything about
the island. Enjoy your stay

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 03:33:12 GMT, "Darby" wrote:

Larry
Your hotel is at the north end of the village of Grande Case.

I hope not -- the Beach Plaza Hotel Web site thinks it's at the south end of
Marigot. You might be thinking of the Grand Case Beach Club.

Right now the
Grande Case rest. are having a snit about North Americans as the president
of France is using Canadians to help him cut out the feather bedding, union
power back in France.
ie those retiring at 50 at full pension. Grande Case was too expensive for
us to eat there. A dead town at lunch time.
Tiss a far way to Marigot, have not seen any cars or scooter rentals in
Grande Case, lots of car rental companies at the airport. we use
www.netscape.com for our car rentals. Almost all day on the island is rush
hour traffic.

Thanks for the info.

-- Larry

Larry
Found your hotel, is on the road going south out of Marigot. It is the 220
volt on the French side, can not remember if our friends with a house on the
other coast use 2 or 3 plugs. Remember they had a large converter for their
110volt computers etc.

If you want to buy in Marigot where the locals shop, (instead of tourist
prices) there is a shop called Forum, about two blocks south of the main
east west road and about two blocks in from the ocean. North of the post
office. Perfume very cheap, clothing and just about everything else.
We are back to our suite on the east side of the island, Pointe Blanche,
Dutch side. We arrive on the the 16th. Might see you there, might work out a
guided tour around the island. Minor snorkelling at Isla Pinel and Orient
beach.

cheers Darby

"pltrgyst" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 03:33:12 GMT, "Darby" wrote:

Larry
Your hotel is at the north end of the village of Grande Case.

I hope not -- the Beach Plaza Hotel Web site thinks it's at the south end
of
Marigot. You might be thinking of the Grand Case Beach Club.

Right now the
Grande Case rest. are having a snit about North Americans as the
president
of France is using Canadians to help him cut out the feather bedding,
union
power back in France.
ie those retiring at 50 at full pension. Grande Case was too expensive for
us to eat there. A dead town at lunch time.
Tiss a far way to Marigot, have not seen any cars or scooter rentals in
Grande Case, lots of car rental companies at the airport. we use
www.netscape.com for our car rentals. Almost all day on the island is rush
hour traffic.

Thanks for the info.

-- Larry