Gustavia, St Bart’s

Today, we dropped anchor outside of Gustavia, on the island of St Barthélemy, from where we were transferred to the quayside via tender boat.

The multitude of designer clothes shops and luxury yachts rather says everything one needs to know about Gustavia. By all accounts, it is frequently visited by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Beyonce, Paul McCartney and Jeff Bezos, to name but a few.

Walking along the quayside towards Shell Beach, we could see how it’s an easy place to like, and commented on its simple, relaxed appeal. Near to the beach are two schools, where we had to wait for a line of small children to cross the road and be escorted to a different school building; the kids were cute and quite delightful to see… awww.

When we got to Shell beach we did things old school. We were told the row of loungers along the front of the beachside restaurant were all booked up, so we found ourselves a spot nestled between the rocks that punctuated the beach, and went for a swim.

The sea was a little bit wild, and while I did get some underwater footage, it was all a little bit murky with churned up sand. We rested a while and went in a couple of times, but the waves made it hard work. After a while we decided we were hungry, so we dried ourselves off, gathered our belongings and headed back towards the town.

As we were leaving, we noticed a sign informing us that loungers were €80 each to rent for the day, which easily beats Barbados for taking the you know what. I’m pretty sure if Leonardo DiCaprio poled up wanting a lounger, that not only would one be made available for him, but he probably wouldn’t have to pay for it…

Walking through the town looking at the shops, and the prices, it’s easy to see how it might be a haven for the rich and famous. Needless to say, we wouldn’t be spending any euros today. The island is part of the French West Indies, which is why everything is in euros and not dollars; on the plus side, we could use data from our mobile phone service plan… it was nice to be able to access YouTube, which is blocked on the ship’s wi-fi.

I’m pleased to say that we did find a bar full of character, where they sold the most fantastic burgers and chips, at perfectly normal, reasonable prices. The meal was so nice, I took a photo of it…

We ambled about a little after we’d eaten our lunch, but eventually decided that there wasn’t much else to interest us, and headed back to the tender boat, to return to the ship.

I’m sorry Jeff Bazos missed us.