Monitored Parking in Gustavia Soon to be a Reality
For better or for worse, the long-rumored restricted parking in Gustavia is scheduled to become a reality at the beginning of 2008. The objective is to prevent people from leaving their cars in the same spot all day. In certain restricted zones, the maximum amount of time that you will be able to park is 1 ½ hours. This time limit will apply to parking along the harbor from the pharmacy to the restaurant La Route des Boucaniers. While parking will initially be free, parking meters may be installed in the future; the necessary equipment was ordered on October 29. The Collectivity will conduct an information campaign before initiating the restricted parking to educate the local residents of the change. One hope is that people will start car-pooling and that some system of public transportation will emerge. The 1 ½-hour limit will be in effect during peak hours during weekdays. The restriction will not be enforced from noon to 2:00 pm, after 5:00 pm or on weekends. Exceeding the 1 ½-hour limit will cost you 11 euros. Initially, a parking disk will be given to all residents and will be present in all rental cars. This disk will note the arrival and departure time of all cars that are parked in the restricted areas during the restricted time periods. We'll have to wait a bit to see how this is actually implemented.
Alain Lesueur, formerly the pianist at the Guanahani Hotel & Spa and Le Toiny, has transformed the former Cocoloba in Grand Cul de Sac into a piano bar called Kazz et Blues. Alain plans to offer music "a la carte" -
customers will be able to make requests from over 4000 songs. The bartender is Jackson, who previously bartended at Do Brazil and the Guanahani. Although there is no kitchen, pre-prepared packages from various island restaurants will be offered. Sushi is planned for the evenings, and they expect to serve salads, paninis and other sandwiches for lunch. Kazz et Blues will be open every day except Sunday from lunch to midnight. The web site www.kazznblues.com is under construction.
Organized by the St Martin Yacht Club Fort Louis in partnership with the St Maarten Yacht Club, the fourth edition of La Course de l'Alliance will be held from November 23 to November 25 in the waters of Saint Martin, St Barth and Anguilla. This sailing event is open to sailboats in the following categories: Spinnaker, non-Spinnaker, Multihull and Open Class. Last year, 23 boats participated in the three-day regatta. Prizes will be awarded in Marigot, St Martin on Sunday, November 25 at 4:00 pm.
Friday, November 23
Regatta leaves Simpson Bay, St Maarten and sails to Gustavia
Saturday, November 24
Regatta sails from St Barth to Anguilla
Sunday, November 25
Regatta sails from Anguilla to Marigot, St Martin
Premium IV, a complete destination service provider, has just completed a 36-page booklet the size of a regular passport that is divided into three sections: Villa Experiences, Island Experiences, and Vacation Experiences. Each section describes some of the packaged services provided by Premium IV along with pricing. If you would like to receive a free copy, please send your mailing address to johnday@premiumiv.com. Tour operators and travel agents may request multiple copies.
The Guanahani Hotel & Spa in Grand Cul de Sac is hosting its annual culinary festival at the restaurant Bar'tô (Le Bartolomeo) until December 21. Each year an outstanding French chef is invited to prepare his own menu in collaboration with Executive Chef Philippe Masseglia of the Guanahani's Bar'tô restaurant. This year's guest chef is Philippe Guerin from the Relais & Châteaux establishment Château du domaine Saint Martin, located between Cannes and Monaco. M. Guerin is a disciple of Escoffier and has been the Executive Chef at the Château du domaine Saint Martin for six years, overseeing the restaurant Commanderie and the grill L'Oliveraie. For this year's festival, M. Guerin has designed a menu representing the Mediterranean kitchen of the French Riviera. The menu includes four fish dishes, four meat dishes and four desserts. For an evening of unsurpassed culinary delights, be sure to make reservations at the Bar'tô, 05 90 27 66 60.
"...art lovers can check out Prince's latest works at the Eden Rock Hotel Gallery in St Barths from December 18, 2007 - February 28, 2008. The exhibition is a partnership with the Gagosian Gallery and will showcase new paintings as part of his "Eden Rock" or "Deathlands" series."
Wimco Villas, the leading villa specialist company, is pleased to announce that a villa holiday on the beautiful island of St Barths is now even more accessible from the UK thanks to the introduction of daily connecting flights from Antigua with Caribbean airline Win-Air.
The Win-Air flights are scheduled to start on 3 December 2007 and are positioned to connect with Virgin Atlantic and British Airways flights from the UK. Prices for the Antigua - St Barths flight will start from £250 one way and Wimco Villa clients in the UK will be able to book both legs of the journey (UK - Antigua - St Barths) through Wimco Villa's reservations department (www.wimco.com / tel: 0870 850 1144).
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The St Barts Music Festival 2008 runs for two weeks this year, from January 11 through January 23, 2008. Advanced tickets to performances are not necessary, just come to the island and pay at the door - the old-fashioned way!
Since 1984, St. Barts has hosted a performing arts festival unlike any other in the world. Each year during January St Barts offers more than a dozen nights of the finest live music and dance performances in an informal, island setting.
Audiences are treated to intimate concerts by some of the world's most prominent classical, opera, ballet, and jazz stars. These performers have the level of artistry that one would normally have to attend Carnegie Hall in New York or the Opera Garnier in Paris to experience. Imagine hearing them with the added advantage of island breezes and the fragrance of flowering hibiscus.
Wow - I didn't know you could sue someone else after you set yourself on fire:
"Bartnicki's lawsuit against Calypso St. Barth Inc. and Calypso St. Barth NY Inc. was filed Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
She was given the $250 skirt, with fringed, horizontal panels of fabric and a slight flare at the bottom, as a birthday present the day before her party.
It was purchased at Calypso, a trendy store on Broome Street that is part of a chain founded 15 years ago in St. Bart's in the West Indies."
October 13, 2007-June 8, 2008
Archery Competitions: October 13, November 17, December 15 (Tour de
l'Ile), January 12, February 9, March 15, April 26, May 24, June 7-8
January 11-23, 2008
24th Annual Music Festival
April 20, 2008
9th Edition of the Transat Ag2r. Arrival in St Barth will be
approximately three weeks later.
At the web site www.mmvideo.fr/video/video, you can take a look at clips from four videos of St Barth. Les côtes de St Barth is particularly good for a view of the scenery around the island.
A well-known magazine on travel and life in the Caribbean published that Le Toiny would be adding a spa and a beach restaurant as part of the new owner's renovations. However, the word straight from Le Toiny is that this is not quite true. They will be adding a massage room rather than a spa, and they will not be adding a beach restaurant.
As a result of the autonomy recently awarded to St Martin and St Barth, the ISO has added two new country codes for Internet extensions: .bl for St Barth and .mf for St Martin. Up until the addition of these two country codes, all web sites originating from St Barth used the .fr extension. It is not mandatory that the new country codes be used, but are available if one so desires.
The Territorial Council was scheduled to meet on October 30 to vote on the contents of a 42-page document containing 100 articles of proposed law, which if approved, would become effective January 1, 2008. At the forefront of everyone's concerns is, of course, the future of taxation on St Barth.
Taxes for Businesses It is proposed that businesses be taxed according to the number of employees as follows: 500 euros for businesses with up to four employees, 1000 euros for four to nine employees, 1500 euros for ten to 20 employees and 3000 euros for over 20 employees.
Visitors' Tax A tax of 5% is proposed to be added to all hotel and villa bills. A 5-euro airport and ferry tax is also being proposed.
Taxes on Vehicles Three taxes are being proposed regarding the owning and driving of vehicles. The first will affect everyone who has a driver's license for a vehicle to 125 Cm3 and is yet to be determined. The second is a 25-euro "tax on the certificates of registration" and applies to all registered vehicles, including scooters. The third is a renewal fee whose rate will vary according to the cubic capacity of the vehicle: 50 euros for two-wheeled vehicles lower or equal to 50 CM3, with 3000 euros for large trucks whose capacity exceeds 14 tons. A vehicle with an engine ranging between 7 and 10 horsepower will be taxed 150 euros.
Other Miscellaneous Taxes Also proposed is a tax on the bars, whose rate will be fixed according to the type of their license, and will not exceed 500 euros per year. The fuel tax will remain at 0.23 euros per liter. The tax on electricity would be increased by 2%.
If you'd like to visit St Barth, but the world-renown hotels are out of your price range or you just prefer smaller places, other options do exist.
Salines Garden Cottages in Grande Saline offers five charming cottages, three of which have kitchenettes. All of the cottages have air-conditioning, ceiling fans, telephone, in-room safe, hair dryer, beach towels and a terrace. A pool on the premises, surrounded with comfortable chaise lounges, offers WiFi access. The cottages start at 80 euros from August 24 to December 19, 290 euros from December 20 to January 4 and 140 euros from January 5 to April 15. Visit www.salinesgarden.com for more details and photos.
Auberge de Terre Neuve, just up the hill from Flamands, has ten apartments and is a great deal, if you don't mind not having a reception desk. The apartments are modestly furnished and start at 80 euros, which includes a rental car (rates are 130 euros between December 15 and April 1).
Eden Roc, St Jean
Hôtel Saint-Barth Isle de France, Flamands
Hôtel Guanahauni & Spa, Grand Cul de Sac
Condé Nast has just published its Reader's Awards for 2007 in the November issue. With over 28,000 votes cast, Eden Rock (92.7%) was awarded the number one hotel in the Caribbean. Hôtel Saint-Barth Isle de France came in at a close second place (91.0%), and the Hôtel Carl Gustaf was number five (83.8%). The Hôtel Guanahauni & Spa was voted number 11 (87.3%) of Best Resorts in the Caribbean. As for the Best Island in the Caribbean, St Barth (77.0%) was voted number three. Number one was Bermuda (80.2%) and number two was St John (78.9%). The criteria for Best Hotel was food/dining, location, overall design, rooms, and service. The criteria for the Best Resort was activities/facilities, food/dining, location, overall design, rooms and service. The criteria for the Best Island was activities, atmosphere/ambience, beaches, friendliness, lodging, restaurants and scenery. Not bad for such a tiny island!
Have you ever wondered how the postal workers can possibly remember where everyone lives in order to deliver their mail?! Letters are addressed with the name of the person and the town where they live. Giving and following directions can be just as confusing. Turn right by the yellow mailbox at the top of the hill just over the little bridge and right past the goats on the left. The Collectivity has adopted a plan to assign numbers to the houses and buildings on St Barth and will begin with the buildings in Gustavia. 1140 numbers have been allocated for all of the houses and commercial buildings in town. To maintain a sense of uniformity, the Collectivity has budgeted between 30,000 and 40,000 euros to fabricate stainless steel signs for the street numbers. The hope is that the numbers will be in place in Gustavia by the end of the year. After having gone through the process to assign house numbers in Gustavia, assigning house numbers throughout the island should go faster. Colombier and Flamands will be the next two areas to be assigned house numbers.
Bacardi Café Reopens as Le Tantra
Like many shops and restaurants, the Bacardi Café in Villa Creole in St Jean was closed during September for renovations. This spot has reopened as a new bar, lounge and restaurant called Le Tantra. It is open seven days a week from 10:00 am to midnight Monday through Friday and from 5:00 pm to midnight on Saturdays and Sundays. Happy hour is 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm, with all cocktails priced at 5 €.
Cocoloba and La Gloriette
We already knew that La Gloriette wouldn't be reopening. Now, it also seems that the Cocoloba will be under new ownership (rumor is that it's been leased to a "familiar island celebrity" - not Boubou. Although I'm hardly familiar with the island celebrities, my guess is that it could be Papagayo.). Current plans are that it will be a bar that offers "finger food" at Happy Hour and live music.
Santa Fe
This restaurant in Lurin, high above beautiful Gouverneur Beach, has been leased to Manu, the sommelier from the elegant restaurant La Sapotilier. He has been busy remodeling, using some furniture from the hotel Manapany in Anse des Cayes and tables, flatware and other items from La Gloriette. He has also put a large lobster/langouste tank in the middle of the floor.
La Vela
It's been heard that La Vela has closed and that the original manager of Nikki Beach will be opening a French bistro in that location. This is all hearsay, so time will tell.
Le Toiny
A group of Texans led by Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France, have bought Le Toiny hotel in Grand Fond. Rooms are being renovated, and a spa and beach restaurant are being added. Executive chef Maxime Deschamps has left and is now the chef at Le Tamarin in Saline.
BAZ Reopens
This bar and restaurant on the harbor in Gustavia has been closed since the end of May. However, the music starts again on October 16 with Nicole Nelson and Dwight Ritcher just until November 4. Nicole Nelson delivers blues, R&B, rock and classic soul. She has been compared to Eva Cassidy, Donny Hathaway, Gladys Knight and Jill Scott. In 2001 she entered and won the Boston Blues Challenge and went on to place third in the International Blues Competition. Nelson has recently teamed up with acclaimed singer/songwriter Dwight Ritcher to form the powerful duo group Dwight & Nicole. They have been playing at some of the nation's top venues, sharing the stage with Dr. John, Melvin Sparks and Maceo Parker. This duo will be followed by the Darian Cunning Trio: Nuevo Blues Rock from November 6 to December 9. Check it out!
Jet Blue just started accepting ticket reservations from JFK (New York) to SXM (St Maarten) for flights starting on Thursday, January 17, 2008. You can make reservations well into April of next year. As of now, flight 787 leaves JFK at 9:35 am and arrives at SXM at 2:40 pm. Flight 788, the return flight, leaves SXM at 3:35 pm and arrives at JFK at 7:05 pm. The round-trip airfare on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, traditionally the cheapest days to fly, is only $318, plus taxes and fees. Round-trip airfare on Thursdays is $498; $568, on Fridays; and $638 on Saturdays.
The Voyager, the ferry between St Barth and St Maarten, will increase its number of daily trips starting on October 28. Because of the ever-increasing price of gas, they have also slightly increased the fare as of October 1. Prices for adults are 55 € for a round-trip ticket for the same day, 76 € for a round-trip ticket on different days, and 48 € for a one-way ticket. For more information and to make reservations, please visit www.voyager-st-barths.com .
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday:
Depart St Barth: 7:30 am
Arrival Port: Marigot
Depart St Barth: 11:30 am
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
Depart St Barth: 2:00 pm
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
Depart St Barth: 5:00 pm
Arrival Port: Marigot
Wednesday:
Depart St Barth: 7:30 am
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
Depart St Barth: 11:30 am
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
Depart St Barth: 2:00 pm
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
Depart St Barth: 5:00 pm
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
Sunday:
Depart St Barth: 7:30 am
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
Depart St Barth: 11:30 am
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
Depart St Barth: 2:00 pm
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
Depart St Barth: 5:30 pm
Arrival Port: Oyster Pond
The Saint B'Art Association is organizing its sixth annual painting competition. The theme, as always, remains St Barthélémy: landscapes, scenery or people and all media is allowable. The paintings must be available at the beginning of December in order to be exhibited on December 8. As with last year, the winning painting will be used as a stamp on 10,000 pre-stamped envelopes. For more information, please call Véronique Vander Noot at 06 90 39 92 74 or Jean-Pierre Ballagny at 06 90 83 84 00.
The sand on the beach at St Jean has almost disappeared between the hotel Eden Roc and the restaurant La Plage. A project to add sand to the beach is currently before the Collectivity. The Executive Council was solicited by Eden Roc at the end of July and by the Association of Hotels the beginning of September to determine what could be done to recover the sand. The Council has been working with experts to determine the current state of St Jean Bay, the causes for the disappearance of the sand and the chronic erosion of the beach, and possible solutions. Several beaches on the island are subject to great movement of the sand from September to April due to sea swells that are common during this period. The sand tends to be pushed to the east end of the beaches. From April until September, the opposite occurs, and the sand is redistributed to the west end of the beaches. However, since hurricane Luis in 1995 and those that came in the following years, none of the beaches on the northern side of the island have had the same quantity of sand as before, and St Jean was the only beach where sand was added after hurricanes Luis and Lenny.
The coral barrier in St Jean Bay is covered with sand, and 80% of the coral is dead. Living coral is three to five times more effective than dead coral on wave action. As a result, the waves clear this barrier with all their force. The sea grasses that existed between the coral barrier and the beach have disappeared, thus there is nothing to reduce the force of the waves crashing onto the beach. The waves strike cement walls that have been built to protect property, producing a strong turbulence. The consequence is that the sea is more agitated than in the past, even in calm periods. Also, each time the canal between the lagoon in St Jean and St Jean Bay is opened because the lagoon is too full, a considerable amount of sediment flows into the sea, which is fatal for the coral. St Jean Beach is supported by an ecosystem that includes the coral, sea grasses, beach vegetation, and the current. Today, this ecosystem is destroyed and must be returned to its equilibrium.
After consulting with experts, the following actions have been identified.
Sand will be added to part of the beach. The volume of missing sand has been estimated to be around 60,000 to 80,000 m3. It has been proposed to add a volume approaching 30,000 m3 to start with. This work has been entrusted to the Zappo Society and will be finished before the tourist season begins.
The effects of adding sand will be assessed in a period of at least one year with a final report giving a scientific interpretation of the results. One of the goals of President Magras and the Executive Council is to understand this phenomenon in its entirety. The Collectivity has taken charge of this part of the plan and will contract the work to experts. Two estimates have been submitted, but no decision has yet been made.
Obviously, a long-term solution is sought. Plans are to re-implant the coral and the sea grasses and follow their evolution. This approach is well-known and has already been realized under the direction of Deborah Brosans in Montserrat with positive results. The beach must be returned to its initial state. If these steps are not effective, the Collectivity will study the possibility of creating an artificial protective barrier. Many examples exist that are well adapted to respect the environment.
New Freight Line from Philipsburg, St Maarten to Gustavia
Easyway, NV, which is based in St Martin, announced that effective last Tuesday they will make an inaugural trip with their new freight line from Philipsburg, St Maarten to Gustavia. Four trips per week are planned, but they anticipate adding a fifth trip for high season. The ship will arrive on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays around 2:30 pm. On Thursdays, the ship will be in Gustavia at 6:00 am before continuing on to St Eustatius and Saba. The Monday arrival allows products that arrive on Air France on Sunday to be delivered to St Barth. Overall, it is anticipated that 25% more of the cargo that arrives via Air France can be transported to St Barth.
Golden Rock Regatta Sports an Impressive Itinerary
The Golden Rock Regatta will make a stop in St. Barts:
After leaving St. Martin on the first day of racing, the first port of call is Gustavia, St. Barths, the culinary capital of the Caribbean. Rather than plan a function, organizers have opted to give the sailors the opportunity to explore the many restaurants for themselves.
Just 8-square miles small, the Caribbean island of Saint Barthelemy (aka St. Barts or St. Barths) is a bright spot on the map of celebrity fun-seekers as uncrowded white-sand playground alternative to the Cote d'Azur in the winter months. Revered by French and American investors as a chic second-home Mecca and by descendents of Norman, Briton and Swedish settlers, St. Barts residents are seeing tectonic-sized shifts in the political and economic landscape of this beautiful island.
In January 2007, St. Barts officially achieved a milestone nearly four decades in the making by becoming an Overseas Territorial Collectivity of France (OC) and separated from dependence upon French sister islands Guadeloupe and St. Martin. Previously governed as a Commune of Guadeloupe - St. Barts always was a step-child for the attention of motherland France. Not any more. As an OC, St. Barts can determine its own destiny in political, social, and cultural arenas by having a freer hand in managing its own affairs. St. Barts has achieved near-autonomy and its leaders are now creating laws related to taxes, tourism, public transportation, schools, housing, construction zoning, environmental and energy affairs, as well as that all-important residency status.
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Organized by the St Martin Yacht Club Fort Louis in partnership with the St Maarten Yacht Club, the fourth edition of La Course de l'Alliance will be held from November 23 to November 25 in the waters of Saint Martin, St Barth and Anguilla. This sailing event is open to sailboats in the following categories: Spinnaker, non-Spinnaker, Multihull and Open Class. Last year, 23 boats participated in the three-day regatta. Prizes will be awarded in Marigot, St Martin on Sunday, November 25 at 4:00 pm.
At the web site 
Cocoloba and La Gloriette
Le Toiny
