Our first full day back on St. Barths began with a series of brief, isolated showers.  This time of year they blow in from the North East and are clearly visible as they approach over the Atlantic.  They tend to be small (one end of St, Jean beach can be sunny and the other in a downpour) and fast moving (the weather can go from sunny to downpour to sunny in 5 minutes).  We’ve learned to gauge, based upon the wind, whether the shower will blow over us or pass to the East over L’Orient or the West over Anse de Cayes.  By the time the last clouds blew by this morning around 11:30, we were on the beach for the morning half of our twice-a-day beach walk.

The sand on St. Jean beach comes and goes.  Sometimes the beach is plentiful and other times it can be nonexistent in sections, especially in front of the Emeraud Plage Hotel (the beach there is now 40 yards wide).  In the past few years there have been several apparently successful beach replenishment efforts.  They vacuum sand in from beyond the offshore reef area and blow it up on the beach through long black hoses with openings about the size of a basketball.  The beach is now in the best  shape we can recall.

The beach on the East side of Eden Rock is also in great shape, especially in front of Nikki Beach.  It is now possible to cut through Eden Rock, head down the sandy boat access and wade the 10 yards or so around the rocks through the gently lapping ankle deep water to Nikki from Eden.   Our 1 hour, 3 lap trek on the Wild West side of St. Jean now includes a wade and lap on the calm East side as well.

The beneficiaries of the beach replenishment include the lucky patrons of Tom Beach, the boutique hotel, restaurant, bar and beach club 3 villas down from the airport runway.  We can remember when waves rolled up under the restaurant.  Now, there’s room for dozens of beach lounges and umbrellas and still another 10 yards to where the waves peter out.

Today we wanted to be Caribbean and lunch with our toes in the sand, so at the conclusion of our walk when we saw our favorite Tom Beach table available, we grabbed it.  Even though it’s high season, we seldom make reservations for lunch.  We prefer to decide last minute based on our mood, the weather and our appetites.  It’s rare that we’ve been turned away or had to settle for a disappointing table.

We sat side by side facing the sea on a cushioned bench in the shade.  We ordered a bottle of Whispering Angel Rose’ from Chateau D’Esclans, one of our favorite Provencal Rosés.  We shared the beef carpaccio with shaved parmesan and dipped our fresh baguette slices in olive oil.  I had the gambas (shrimp) and Mr. B had the langouste (lobster) tagliatelle (pasta).  We concluded with vanilla rhum apertifs.

The lunch was a languorous 2 hours.  We enjoyed the people watching (there is a steady 2-way traffic of beach walkers, not to mention the beach club and beach bar guests), the soft breezes, the flights of the occasional clouds, and the alluring shades of sea and sky blues.

Yes, Tom Beach allowed us to be Caribbean today.  Some dreams are real!