Set your clocks, phones, and watches to military time and be done with it. A maitre d' might confirm your reservation for "8 o'clock this evening" if they know that you are North American. However, on his calendar it will say 20h00.
From time to time you might get someone saying 18h00 and you brain-knee-jerk drop the "1" and think 8 p.m. as opposed to 6 p.m. so it's just better to reference everything according to the 24 hour clock as shop hours (horaires), flights, etc. are made according to this schedule.
And, there's no Daylight Savings Time so the time is the time all year. What time is that? Atlantic Standard Time (AST) or 4 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Simply, it's an island in the Caribbean, but it's so much more than than. I describe St. Barth as the child of the best of France and the Caribbean. The cuisine, wines, shopping, nature, and so on are wonderful here. And since there is so much to enjoy about this island, during the coming weeks I will give you a little bit of info about all of these and more. First, the basics. Size: 24 square kilometers (eight square miles for those of us on the imperial system) Location: 17°55 North 62°50 West within the Lesser Antilles and French West Indies People: Fewer than 10,000 year round folks Government: A territory that is governed by France. The Collectivity, as it is known, holds a seat in the...
Is it St. Barts, Saint Barth, or St. Bart's? All of those are correct...in a fashion. The official name of the island is Saint Barthélemy. It was named by Christopher Columbus for his brother Bartolomeo (Bartholomew). The locals and the francophone world refer to it as Saint Barth or St. Barth so that's what I use. In English, people will often change it to St. Barts and you will see that used in a lot of travel guides. Even specific online forums like SBHOnline.com and St. Barths Online use St. Barts and St. Barths respectively. However, the usage of St. Bart's, though seen often, really isn't correct. Think of the U.S. Virgin Islands, they aren't known as St. John's and St. Thomas's;...
Everyone's definition of paradise is different. For me, it's some place where I can scuba dive, take too many photographs, have great food, and selectively disconnect from it all. St. Barthélemy is that place for me. Before you jump to conclusions about St. Barth — as I did before I first visited — understand that, as with most things, the perceptions and reality don't equate. Upon my first visit here, I assumed that there would be a slew of celebrities dripping with couture and render me side-eyeing and loathing paparazzi. Not the case at all. Certainly there are people here that you will be hard-pressed to not notice. However, that is likely by personal design via jewelry, clothing, and yacht selection. Yes,...
