Island of Saint-Martin / Sint Maarten (March 2011)
We used the town of Grand Case on the French side of the island as our base while exploring St. Martin. We selected Grand Case for reasons that appealed to us. We’re not much into crowds, resorts, casinos or all-night festivities which tended to rule-out the Dutch side.
I’m not disparaging what the Dutch provide in Sint Maarten. Some people prefer those activities. I’m merely pointing out that we did our research and intentionally chose what appealed to us personally. Grand Case fit our interests best and we liked the results.
The town is picture perfect, with old wooden structures of historic charm and character lining the street. The name of the town, Grand Case, means “Big House” in the local West Indian Creole dialect and many of these big houses still remain. Residents built them long before tourists arrived. They offered sturdy homes to many of the people who fished the sea or worked on the nearby plantations.
Right On The Beach
We chose a small boutique hotel directly on the Caribbean Sea towards the southwestern end of Grand Case beach with spectacular views all the way to Anguilla. The space wasn’t a typical hotel room but more appropriately a one-bedroom apartment with a kitchen and living room. The photograph above is literally the view from our patio. Notice the proximity to the sea. The Grand Case beach is indeed very narrow but the sand is fine and the waters calm. It’s perfect swimming, lounging and relaxing in near seclusion.
You may be interesting in seeing more about this beach on the page I created for St. Martin beaches we visited.
A Walk Through Town
The beach is nice but the town itself is the real reason to stop here. Visitors can find almost everything along a single narrow road including an amazing variety of gastronomic delights that make this St. Martin’s “Restaurant Row.” Various sources consider Grand Case to be the culinary capital of the Caribbean. While I’m sure there are other places that might be on the same level it’s hard to imagine any place that’s better. Fine dining was another big reason we chose to stay in Grand Case.
There are also quite a number of boutiques for all sorts of shopping unrelated to the restaurants. I took this shot on a Tuesday evening when the town blocks traffic and converts the street into an outdoor festival. This image came from the earlier part of the evening before vendors set-up the full array of stalls and before the shopping had a chance to really get started.
Unfortunately for us, we decided to wait until after dinner to experience the street scene that evening, just as the heavens opened up and it started to pour. So we improvised. We bought a bottle of wine at one of the corner stores. Then we hung out on our patio for the rest of the evening, watching the rain fall as we lounged along the waterfront.
Those Wonderful Lolos
It’s not exclusively about fine dining in Grand Case, although that’s certainly a noteworthy claim to fame. Actually, the other end of the dining spectrum, the Lolos, attract a lot of attention too. A lolo is a simple Caribbean Creole restaurant, and we tried a few including Talk of the Town and Sky’s the Limit. It has a roof but is otherwise open to the elements. The kitchen is all barbecue grills and cooking pots, clearly visible to diners and passers-by alike who are attracted by enticing sizzles and mouthwatering aromas. There’s nothing fancy or pretentious about a lolo. The spectacle sells itself. I loved these places.
Food arrives on disposable plates with plastic forks. What amazing foods, though: expertly grilled chicken, ribs, goat, fish, lobster, and every other manner of seafood. Side dishes accompany the plate in heaping piles. Lolos are very convenient and very inexpensive; a feast at bargain prices. Many of the lolos accepted Dollars equivalent to Euros which resulted in even further savings.
It was practically impossible to leave a clean plate behind with the generous portions provided. We easily stuffed ourselves silly for $10 or less per person. I wouldn’t want to eat every meal in Grand Case at a lolo but it was a nice indulgence at times. In fact, Grand Case covered both ends of the dining spectrum with little else in the middle; either very expensive fine dining or dirt cheap lolos. We enjoyed eating our way from one side of town to the other.
Day’s End
Grand Case also features exceptional sunsets, either from the beach or from one of the many waterfront restaurants such as this location where I took this photograph. I have not enhanced these colors. This is actually how the camera captured the scene as the disk of the sun sank slowly into the Caribbean Sea. It certainly added to the ambiance of a great meal on our final night in St. Martin.
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