From: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline) 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean
Subject: CARIBBEAN TRAVEL ROUNDU13
Date: 31 Dec 92 01:03:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Travel Online / St. Louis Online - St. Louis, MO
Reply-To: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline) 

(continued)
JUST  before  the  Sandy Point bridge heading out of Marigot to Terre  
Basse.  

I  had  a  good dinner at a French place in on the marina Royal, next  
door  to the Cafe de Paris. It catered to Americans. The wife was the  
hostess  and waited on tables while her husband cooked. The meal came  
to  $28  for  a  mussel  salad with saffron and red snapper in a mild  
sauce.  I  had  a  wonderful  lime  mousse for dessert. They only had  
American  coffee and the wine, by the glass or pitcher, was mediocre.  
It was a good buy for the money by St. Martin standards.  

I  had dinner once at The Greenhouse in Philipsburg. I hadn't planned  
to  eat  there,  but  the Indonesian place was closed, it was getting  
late,  and  I  was  hungry. I had excellent blackened red snapper (do  
you  see  a  pattern  to  what I eat?) preceded by an ordinary shrimp  
cocktail.  Again  with two Heinekins, the price was about $28. (I had  
lunch  there  one  day,  out  of  convenience.  A  burger,  fries and  
Heinekin were $8 + tip.)  

There  are  3 major supermarkets on the island, where food prices are  
for  the  most  part comparable to prices in New York City. The Match  
in  the Howell Center, on the North side of Marigot is open 9 a.m. to  
8  p.m., Mon.-Fri., and 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday. They have primarily  
French  items  with a fair number of American items available, though  
it  is  not  shopping  at  home.  Prices  are  in francs. They accept  
Mastercard/Visa  as  well  as  U.S.$. They were giving 5.20 FF to the  
dollar  when  banks were paying 5.26. The Dutch side has two branches  
of  the Food Center open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mon. - Fri. There is also a  
Foodtown  in  the  Amsterdam  Shopping  Center where the selection is  
smaller. Items are priced in N.A. Guilders but everyone uses U.S.$.  

There's  not  very  much  you  can't find. I remember seeing Sweet 'n  
low,  but  don't remember seeing Nutrasweet or the French equivalent.  
There's  lots  of ice cream. I don't remember seeing slim Fast, but I  
wasn't  looking for it. If they carry Oscar Meyer Lunchables, I would  
bet  they  carry Slim Fast. The French side had a better selection of  
cheese  along with fresh fish. The Dutch side was preferred by locals  
for  fruits  and vegetables based on quality and price. Pretzels were  
easier  to  find  on  the  Dutch  side.  Supermarkets and convenience  
stores  carry  a  wide selection of liquor and beer. The Heinekin and  
Amstel  Light are sold in 25 cl (8.5 oz.) bottles while Budweiser and  
other  American brands are sold in 33.3 cl. (12 oz.) containers. Pure  
Premium  orange  juice  was  VERY expensive -- about $4/half- gallon,  
but  the  frozen concentrate was about $2/16 oz. (makes half-gallon).  
There  didn't  seem  to  be  much  fresh milk on the island. There is  
sterilized  milk, which is not that bad, especially if cold. It comes  
in  whole (creme complete), low fat (demi-ecreme), and skim (ecreme).  
Note  that I could only find skim on the Dutch side. Most of the milk  
is  from France, bottle by President which is probably the best dairy  
company  in  Normandy.  Their skim milk was considerably cheaper than  
the American Weight Watchers.  

For  Health  Food  items, there was a reasonably stocked store in the  
shopping  center  next  to  the  Casino  Royal.  They  had  vitamins,  
homeopathic  remedies  (also found in French pharmacies) bodybuilding  
powders,  and  just about anything you'd find in the States. Though I  
didn't  look at prices, most things are priced about the same as here  
in New York.  

Bar  selections  covered  the  French and the Americans. They had all  
the   hard  liquor  you  could  think  off.  Beer  selection  usually  
consisted   of  Heinekin,  Amstel  Lite,  Bud,  Bud  Lite,  sometimes  
Fosters,  Coors,  and  occasionally  something  else. Soft drinks and  
water  came  with  plenty  of ice cubes for American visitors who are  
often  disappointed  by  the  single small cube they receive in Paris  
that proceeds to melt in five seconds.  

Communication  with the outside world is costly though good. Calls to  
the  States  run around $2.00 per minute from a French pay phone. You  
need  to  buy a "telecarte" for either 50 or 120 units (worth 0.80 FF  
each)  to  use  a pay phone since all but a couple of phones will not  
take  change. You can get a telecarte in the French post office, or a  
Dutch  version  in  the  Dutch  post  office. They are good in all of  
France,  and  on  the  Dutch side of the island. The Dutch pay phones  
are  the  French  phones  with instructions in English. A call on the  
French  side is one unit for 6 minutes. A call to Guadeloupe is about  
one  unit  for  half  a  minute.  If  you call the States, units come  
flying  off  the  card  as  fast  as I've ever seen, at least every 5  
seconds  It  works  out  to about $2.15/min. Calls from pay phones on  
the  French  side have no surcharges over the cost from a home phone.  
Hotels  tack  on  a  hefty surcharge. Calls lasting 3,4, and 1 minute  
ranged  from  $11  to $24 from the hotel. Prices are the same whether  
you  call  the  Mainland  States,  Puerto  Rico  or  the  U.S. Virgin  
Islands.  ;  There  are AT&T Direct phones on the Dutch side. You can  
also  contact MCI from the Dutch side. There are a few phones you can  
use  make  calls  billed to a major credit card. They are operated by  
the  Boatphone  cellular  phone system and are very expensive. If you  
use  them  to  call  AT&T  Direct, there is a $2.50/min. surcharge in  
addition to the cost of the phone call.  

To  use  a  pay  phone,  pick up the receiver (decrocher), insert the  
card  (introduire  la  carte),  wait  (patientez-vous), and then dial  
(composer  votre  numero).  To call internationally from France, dial  
19.  You  get  a  second dial tone, then the country code and number.  
(continued)
                                                                         
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean