C and R Club Orient trip 9/08-9/14
This was our first trip to Saint Martin and 8 months since we returned from a second honeymoon trip to the Terra Cotta Inn in Palm Springs. So I guess that would make this our third honeymoon. We had a short hop from Asheville to Charlotte to take the nonstop to Saint Martin. US Airways was the carrier and everything went smoothly. It was raining when we were driving the 8 miles to the airport. From the car to the terminal, it wasn't raining. It started pouring and we thought we would be soaked on the way to the plane (it was outside). 30 seconds before we were to board the plane, the rain stopped and we walked out, still dry. We just felt like it was a sign that the Lord was giving us a great trip. And it turned out to be correct. Hurricane Frances had earlier passed St. Martin to the north, Ivan to the south the day before we arrived, and Jeanne passed close by the day we left.
The plane trip from CLT to SXM was about 3 hours long and soon we were flying in to this pretty little island. There were clouds the entire way and hurricane Ivan was nearby. But when we arrived, the sun was shining on the island. We walked over to the little transport bus with our carry on luggage. We each had a carry on bag with clothes that we ended up not wearing. We easily could have done with one carry on.. That is just another perk of a nude holiday that few of us seem to take advantage of. It seems we can't seem to get it straight that we do not have to pack many clothes!
The little bus takes you about 100 yards and you get in line for immigration. Hurricane Ivan caused several flights to come in at the same time so the wait time was about 30 minutes. We showed our passports and embossed birth certificates and were off to the taxi line. It was chaotic because all the flights came in at the same time. We were wondering what to do when a large official pointed us to a taxi van and said "This is yours!" We obeyed quickly and 60 seconds later we were off onto the busy streets, leaving hundreds of milling tourists behind us. Why was it so easy? Don't know, but we were thankful.
The streets were narrow and busy with pedestrians as well as cars, but the driver skillfully and nonchalantly navigated around cars, people, and goats, while talking nonstop about his life and his family. We left the city behind and soon were in the wilderness seeing the contrasts of this little island.
We were spending our nights at L'Hoste Hotel and our days at Club Orient. I am glad that I did not try to rent a car, because I would probably still be looking for the place. The L'Hoste Hotel is so hidden away that you imagine that it would be a great place for mobsters to hide out.
It is tucked into the thickest greenery we ever saw on St. Martin and the courtyard and pool area are thick with large and beautiful coconut trees. Check in took about 2 minutes and we were off to our room, about 50 steps away on the second floor. The room had ceramic tile, a bamboo 4 poster bed with curtains on all four sides and large European bathroom. It looked exactly like the online picture and had a great cool tropical ambience.
We went to the large glass door and walked onto the deck area and found that it looked out onto another jungle of banana trees and orchids and coconut trees. The banana tree just below us was the favorite of a stunning black and iridescent green hummingbird that fed on the large 'penis' that comes out of the banana bunch. The tree was loaded with bananas. We couldn't see the ocean and were disappointed for a few minutes, but when we realized that we probably wouldn't be in the room except when it was dark, we gave up on the view and it turned out to be a great room for us. We could be out on the patio naked day or night and no one would bother us. This was great as it became a favorite place for lovin'. How many hotel patios can host that kind of activity without concern? Not any others that we saw, including Club O.
We had been on the island only about an hour and were already relaxing naked outside on our private veranda. Since there was some day left, it was time to check out the beach. I am a beach bum and just love to see the view of the ocean, so we put on some swimsuits and headed to the ocean. We walked under the tall coconut trees, past some fan palms, and there was the ocean, not much more than 100 feet from our room.
The sun was surprisingly low for 4:00 PM, but the beach was nice, although pretty busy. We noted the crowd of tourists and locals with about 25% of the women topless, and headed to the Club O beach. The waves crash right into the rocks at Pedro's and you have to want to get past it. After you get past Pedro's, the famous sign for the nude beach greets you and immediately the beach is nicer, quieter and less colorful. (no textiles) We took off our suits and continued down the beach toward Papagayos. In fact the first thing we noticed was the uniform all over tan color of the bodies along with the yellow of the Club O umbrellas and the Club O towels. We hoped that we would have the same beautiful all over tan after a week.
We grabbed some chairs and stretched out. The hours of sunlight at this time of year are different than we are used to in the Sates. The sun rises at 6:00 AM and sets at 6:00 PM. So, as the sun was setting behind the mountains, we headed back down the beach toward the room., put our suits on at Pedro's and continued down the now almost deserted beach to our room. The beach bars had already closed and very few people were left on the beach. The beach hours appeared to be about 11 to 5. This was the slowest month of the year and we imagined that it could be pretty crowded during the busy season.
It was now dark and time to shower and do what any couple who has been married 18 years should be doing on a second honeymoon. Then it was time to dress up the wife and find a place to eat. Normally this would be easy, but in September, most of the places that aren't completely closed for the month are closed by 5:00 or 6:00 PM and without a car we would have to find a place within walking distance.
We walked past the pool, past the little parking lot and to a little courtyard of a street, restaurant, store, bistro, spa, and all French people. This is exactly what we wanted, and we sat down at the French bistro, with the rest of the French locals who worked on the island and hung out there. Fortunately the waiter knew enough English to explain the dishes.
We had a great time sitting there, soaking up the culture, and not one American tourist in sight. Remember there were hundreds there at the beach before and now they were all gone back to their timeshares, cruise ships, or wherever they came from and it was just the local French folk with their animated conversation and polite behavior and fabulous food that we came to love.
We were sitting next to a little French store (The Tap 5) that had produce, juices, breads, pastries, wines by the hundreds and cheeses of all kinds (except American). There was an endless procession of French locals going into the store and coming out with a loaf of French bread under their arm. Little girls, teenagers, adults, older ladies; all seemingly had the same agenda and we thoroughly enjoyed watching them. The baguettes were baked in a large machine at this store and they were still warm. The French restaurants got their baguettes at the same store and you would see their drivers load up with dozens of them. We had no idea that we would ourselves become part of the procession and grow attached to those baguettes.
We stayed and talked, just like they do, and then we finally left them still talking. We walked back the 100 feet to our room and were amazed at how much fun we had had, and we had been on the island only about 6 hours. We had experienced no hassles, no rain, (Ivan was south of us hitting Grenada), few American tourists, no long waits, no rudeness, and we had just barely started our vacation. We were off to a great start.
We got into the room, got out of our clothes (we had been in them for 2 long hours!) and stayed out on the veranda listening to the wind in the coconut trees and the waves crashing on the beach. They have a wicker chaise that is unlike anything we had seen in the states and was sensuously curved and big enough for a man to sit in with his lady leaning against his chest and sitting between his legs. We lay there a long time just enjoying the peaceful and sensual experience of being together and hearing just wind and waves. Moments like this are few in most of our lives and we need to relish them.
We woke up at our usual time of 5:45 AM and saw that the sky was getting light quickly. We got up and headed for the beach just in time to miss the sunrise but we got to see the low sun shining on the ocean and not a soul on the beach as far as we could see.
We headed toward Club O and as we neared Pedro's, we met a sweet couple from Argentina (Juan & Elita), walking gracefully toward us wearing nothing but smiles. We would run into them every morning and looked forward to seeing their kind faces.
When we realized that the beach was deserted at that hour, we found we could also walk naked the entire length of the beach and save for an occasional runner, meet only other couples from Club O, wearing the same attire as ourselves. The sun rises at 6:00 AM and we would not want to start any later. It is comfortably cool but never cold, quiet and peaceful, beautiful with early sun, and the only time to peacefully walk the entire beach in the nude. It is about 3 miles to walk the beach up and back. It is a beautiful and peaceful time and a great way to start the day. It always helps to work up an appetite and make you feel like you earned your breakfast.
There were just a few who would walk the beach nude in the middle of the day when there were hundreds of obnoxious Americans going "Hey Mabel, get a load of this... grab the video camera!" We didn't fly 2000 miles for that. We could see them at Myrtle Beach any day of the week. So we stayed away from the main part of the beach during the day.
Getting back to our trip, we picked out a location in Club O and stretched out in the early morning sun, eager to start on our all over tan. At this hour there was usually only one or two other couples out at Club O and the beach couldn't have been more peaceful.
The first day we went back to L'Hoste to try out the breakfast that turned out to be over priced and bad tasting. Now we knew where not to eat breakfast. The next day we ate at Papagayos for breakfast and it was excellent and of course we were able to eat in the nude. That was where we had breakfast the rest of our vacation, and it was always good.
At lunch we made the long trek back to Papagayos (100 feet) and had a great lunch and finally figured out that we could split a meal and have plenty of food for half the price. We did this the rest of our time and must say that it was the best way for us to eat. The view from Papagayos is as beautiful as any view from any restaurant that we have ever seen. To be looking at the fabulous view, eating an excellent meal, while being naked with the most beautiful woman in the world (your wife), is a sensual treat that is difficult to top.
I decided to explore the peninsula naked and it turned out to be very challenging. It is coral and you have to be crazy to do it when you are not wearing shoes. The coral is very sharp and even though I made around to the front side and was greeted with a beautiful view of another side of the island, I did get a small cut on my heel. I did not treat it during our stay but I did find that it always felt better when immersed in the ocean. And sunburn felt the same way.
The first day we laid out virtually from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM in the sun with a strong wind keeping us cool. Unfortunately it kept us too cool and we didn't realize that we were getting more sun than we thought. Learn from our mistakes. Put on SPF 30 to 45 as soon as the sun rises and reapply frequently. We were smart enough to be in Papagayos for lunch and avoid the worst part of the sun, but it will roast you at about any hour of the day. We talked to some of the local French girls and they said you need sunscreen whenever the sun is up. We found out a little bit late. Aloe Vera purchased at L'Orientique became a much needed healing lotion.
After a great day of relaxed nudity with no vinnys, wallys or gawkers, we headed back to the room for some lovin' and another chance to dress up the bride for dinner.
This time we went across the street (another 20 steps) from the bistro to a fine seafood French restaurant also catering to locals. As with most of the restaurants there, the place had no windows or doors. We sat down and watched another slice of local life as a dozen little French kids had the time of their life playing together in the courtyard. The men sat and sipped wine and talked, the kids played on bikes with training wheels, and the moms went running on the beach.
The food was fabulous and we were fascinated by the cute little kids (4-6 years old) playing so well together. Dogs and cats wander in and out and always seem to very well behaved. A cat stopped at our table and looked up at us in a way that we knew because we have a cat. At first we resisted the temptation to feed it but when we saw that it was eating for 8, we ended up feeding her some delicious swordfish.
Since the French stay and talk for hours, they do not expect you to jump up and run off, so it would take sometimes an hour after we finished to get the check (unless you requested it earlier). This didn't annoy us at all as we had nowhere else to go. We trekked back the 150 feet to the room and quickly got out of our clothes to spend some quality time out on our porch listening to the ocean.
When we moved to the bed, we turned on the TV and found a curious mix of limited programming that never did make any sense. CNN International(British) with Portuguese commercials, Spanish station from Mexico, French station from France, HBO & Cinemax movies from US, and some European station with no sound. And that was it. We went to bed about 9:00 so we could get up around 6:00 AM.
Friday Morning we got up early, walked the beach, got our chairs at Club O and settled in for another peaceful day of nude lounging and tanning. We had paid 90 dollars for the chairs and umbrella for the week and were getting to know some of the Club O people. We went to the store L'Orientique for a break and to look for some things for the kids and maybe for us. How many places can you go shopping in the nude?
Back to the beach and we noticed several things. A section of the nude beach seemed to have about a dozen single men. We moved down closer to the 'couples section', toward Papagayos.
What we also did not realize was that the cruise ships were in. Usually Wednesday is the busy day but because of the hurricane, Friday was the big day. The parade started about 10:00 AM and didn't end until sundown. All kinds of people, kids, oldsters, lots of single men, Vinnys, Wallys, but mostly just obnoxious people. They trekked along the beach as if we were the sight for the day. There was no attempt made to conceal the open stares. We felt like monkeys in a zoo. They would tromp along in Bermuda shorts and jeans and big football shirts, and street shoes(!) Even though the hard sand was closer to the water, they would walk along in the deep sand about 5-10 feet from where we lay naked. How many? Hundreds. It got old real fast. They showed no respect and would stare at whichever body part they found the most interesting. Some would actually stop and gawk at close range.
We talked to some of the Club O regulars who had been coming for over 10 years and they said it was never good, but that day was the worst they had ever seen. Remember that it is not easy to walk down the beach and stumble onto the nude beach. You have to really want to get there by climbing over rocks at Pedro's. It was as if we were part of the cruise...'see the dolphins'...'see the monkeys'...'see the nudes'. We noticed that they did not go to the other end of the beach which is much easier to walk to(but has no 'naked people' to see). I was never so ashamed to be an American.
If we had known about the altered cruise ship schedule, we would have gone somewhere and done something else, but we kept thinking that there couldn't be any more and then here would come another wave. There were a few couples who came and got naked and that was great but they were only about 1% or 2 % of the total group. We were amazed at the number of single men that evidently go on cruise ships and island vacations looking for something they can't find at home. We saw virtually no single females, so you can't help wondering if we on the Club O beach were the drawing card for these lowlives to come to Saint Martin. The next day was not nearly as bad but we still got quite a few American tourist gawkers from the other side of Orient Beach.
We met 2 delightful couples from Holland. One couple was staying there, one couple was not. One of the Dutch girls made the point that the textile crowd could call the police if we went to their beach, but we were not able to do anything when they would come to our beach, outnumber us, and stare rudely at us. We met several nice people from former East Germany where nudism is common. We enjoyed meeting Juan and Elita from Argentina. Americans outnumbered the others at Club Orient and that week most couples happened to be from North Carolina. We met couples from Alabama, California, Michigan, and Ohio (C&M). The ages were from 30s to 70s. Two young couples each had a baby, about a year old.
The next day was warmer mainly because the wind had shifted. Without the wind coming from the ocean, the heat is quite a bit hotter and also biting bugs from the salt marsh came in. Being in the water is the only way to get away from them. But that was just one afternoon. From what we experienced, the wind was remarkably constant from the right direction. I can't imagine a better place for sailing. The one day that the wind came from the wrong direction made us appreciate the rest of the time. The bugs were still more welcome than the gawkers.
We decided to go to Pedro's with our friends C & M. R was in a fishnet cover-up with nothing underneath. M was topless with a see through pareo bottom. We guys brought towels to sit on.. Everyone else in the place had tops and bottoms on . We were for the most part ignored, which was good. The service and the food were not very good. Once was enough, but we had fun with our friends, and enjoyed the experience.
Early Monday morning we (with C & M) walked up into Esmeralda and looked around (naked) which was interesting. The Esmeralda and the old Mt Vernon property were both closed for the month of September. The Esmeralda looks like it would be a fun place to stay if you had friends in the same villa. It is virtually invisible to the beach and has no discernible entrance. It sits behind the big rock, so you can't even tell it is there. You reach it by walking through COCO's bar.
L'Hoste is similar in that you can't really see it from the beach and reach it by going between the restaurants La Playa and Bikini Beach. We also were able to go in to L'Hoste at about 8 AM naked. But that is the time the desk clerk arrives so most nude entering and exiting would be best done before 8. Naked couples walking on the beach are sort of expected from between 6 and about 9 AM (when the tourists start coming in). After that the beach is starting to get American tourists and you can expect to be filmed. They keep their digital cameras, video cameras, and cell phone cameras ready for just such occasions. If you don't mind being on some rude American's home video(or the Internet), you can walk the entire beach in the nude anytime.
Monday we decided to go through the back of Club O to the Butterfly Farm. It is within easy walking distance of Club O and the walk goes by one of the most beautiful little lagoons in the world (Le Galion). There is a public park there, a bar, an abandoned hotel and a tiny windsurfing school and rental. It is open to the ocean but the mouth of it stops even the biggest ocean waves. It has virtually no waves and would be an ideal place to learn windsurfing. It is breathtaking in its beauty and we saw school kids swimming there, brought in by a big bus.
Further inland, the butterfly farm is a small building with netting strung out back. We had heard that it was worth seeing and so we went, even though the heat was oppressive away from the water and Ren had a rash from some sun poisoning. But we both really enjoyed it. Butterfly's are marvels of design and if you go, don't leave without taking the tour. That is where you really learn about them. If a butterfly alights on you, it is supposed to bring good luck for 24 hours. We both had butterflies light on us. One stayed on my ankle until we had to leave.
We didn't head to the casino to take advantage of our good luck, but we enjoyed the butterflies and the committed staff. Normal fee is 12 dollars per person and you can come back whenever you like for free. Since it was our last day, we were given a discount. Just an example of the niceness of the staff. It is so close to Club O that it should be planned by anyone staying there.
After later than usual lovin', we went out for our last night and ate at the bistro where we split a sandwich and talked in English while the others talked in French. Food and atmosphere were great as usual.
We finally left them and went back to the room, went out on the veranda for another naked cuddle (canoodle or canudle?) and listened to the rising wind from approaching storm Jeanne.
We got out at about 6:30 AM to do our naked beach walk and headed for Club O. Because of an approaching storm, the wind was really blowing hard and no one was out. As we walked south, a couple appeared and it turned out to be our friends, C & M. We walked with them all the way to the north end and then back to Club O where we had another delightful breakfast at Papagayos.
As we were sitting there, One of the gals staying at Club-O came up with the local morning newspaper and evidently the tropical wave had become a tropical storm called Jeanne, which was very close and looking to possibly hit the island soon after noon. We said our goodbyes to our Club O friends and hurried down the beach toward our hotel. The tourists were not there so we didn't need to put the suits on until we got to the hotel.
We packed, put clothes on and went down to the front desk where we had them check to make sure that the flights were still on for the day. We set the bags down in the lobby and as we had an hour until the taxi came, we went out to the main beach for the first time in the middle of the day to watch the tourists. Despite the wind, they started pouring in and only an occasional topless gal indicated that this was not Myrtle Beach. Soon the place was swarming with obnoxious Americans. We had missed nothing by not staying at the main part of the beach.
The taxi arrived and soon we were at the airport, after seeing the other half of the island on the taxi ride. The trip back was uneventful and we were full of good memories. We would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Maybe we can someday soon. There were some there who had been coming to Club Orient at least once a year for over 10 years. We sure can see how that could happen.