Morning
We slept in late today and took our time getting ashore. My friends had brought Hario V60 coffee filters so I didn’t have to try to make Melitta filters work and the coffee was good. It packed sufficient caffeine to get the ticker going and by mid-morning we went ashore and began our Sunday excursions.
Grand Case has a bad reputation for car break-ins and theft and I was happy to see that our valiant steed was unscathed. We drove off past the airport and up the hill to see Anse Marcel.
The resort has now been fully rebuilt and looks resplendent, but there was a gate blocking the entry. As we had nothing particular to do down in the valley we continued onwards towards Cul-de-Sac.
Noon
The parking lot at the Pinel Island ferry was full and the island looked crowded, so we left. I missed the Orient Beach turnoff and we kept on driving; finally taking the shore road to Oyster Pond. This, unfortunately, is still in an Irma-induced state of destruction and has yet to be rebuilt.
We had lunch at Oasis but weren’t impressed with the service, although the food was tasty.
Afternoon
This time around I found the right turn-off to the beach. But somehow, despite the beautiful surroundings, the beach had no flair. Too many beach chairs, vendors and people. So we returned to Grand-Case and walked the beach there. In the end, we returned to Zanshin and swam off the back of the boat. Thus ended our Sunday excursions.
Evening
While walking along the main street of Grand Case we perused the menus of the restaurants so that we could make our dinner choices. My favorite, Auberge Gourmande, could only offer us a late seating. But the menu at Océan 82 was enticing and they gave us an early seating for dinner.
We returned to the boat and swam/worked until it was time to go ashore for dinner. Arriving on time, we had to wait several minutes for the table to be prepared. Our waiting area was between the huge lobster tank and the impressive glass front of the wine cellar. All of the Grand Crus were presented to show their best face. From Petrus ’83 (my favorite) at only €4500 to a young Romanée-Conti at a mere €40,000 it was impressive indeed.
I ordered a somewhat less pedigreed wine for dinner and it was excellent. As were our meals. The restaurant’s reputation is well-deserved and despite the prices in the impressive wine list the meals are affordable. Overall the ambience and service all fit perfectly and we stumbled back to the boat, sated.
