This morning the alarm clock went off at 9:00 am. We took a little while to get going and left our room around 10:15 am. We had a quick serve of Bircher muesli (and coffee for Keith!) before heading off to get on the tender boat to take us into Gustavia on the 15-minute ride from the ship’s anchor point. The wind was up today so the ride in on the tender boat was a bit rough.

The tender boat to ferry us between the ship and the dock.
The tender boat to ferry us between the ship and the dock.

When we arrived, we decided to just take a walk around the pretty town of Gustavia. Gustavia is the capital of Saint Barthélemy (St. Bart’s), an island in the French West Indies. Saint Barthélemy was first claimed by France in 1648. It was sold to Sweden in 1784 but bought back by France in 1878, so there is a nice mix of Swedish and French influences. The island was named by Christopher Columbus in 1493 for his younger brother Bartholomew Columbus.

We started our walk down Rue de la Republique and continued around the marina. Our first stop was the pretty little church of St. Bartholomew.

St. Bartholomew's Anglican church.
St. Bartholomew's Anglican church.
The marina in Gustavia.
The marina in Gustavia.

We continued walking around to the end of the marina and then headed up the very steep Rue Stephen Atwater (named after a prominent local who was born in Connecticut but moved to Saint Barthélemy and died there in 1859). Located near the top of the street is Fort Oscar, which is now occupied by the local gendarmerie and, according to the sign out the front, cannot by entered by the public. But there seemed to be plenty of people in there so we made our way in and up to the vantage point on the peninsula. The view out to the Caribbean Sea was beautiful, made especially so by the vibrant colours of the crystal-clear water.

Looking west from the peninsula at St. Bart's out to the Caribbean Sea (with our ship, the Regent Seven Seas Navigator in the background).
Looking west from the peninsula at St. Bart's out to the Caribbean Sea (with our ship, the Regent Seven Seas Navigator in the background).
Looking back to the marina from Fort Oscar.
Looking back to the marina from Fort Oscar.
Keith at Fort Oscar.
Keith at Fort Oscar.
Looking down Rue Stephen Atwater to the marina.
Looking down Rue Stephen Atwater to the marina.

We backtracked to the marina and walked past the local schools to our next stop, Shell Beach. The water was very warm but, as the name suggests, the shore is made up of millions of tiny shells, rather than nice soft sand.

Shell Beach.
Shell Beach.
Andrea on Shell Beach.
Andrea on Shell Beach.

We then walked back into the main shopping area and spent some time browsing the very high-end shops here. After plenty of walking around, we decided to return to the docking point for the ship’s tender boat and head back to the ship.

We were a little hungry when we got back to the ship so we decided to have a late lunch. It seems that no matter how many buffets we eat at, we still haven’t got the portion sizes correct. So, naturally, we ended up with more food than we really needed! And, since it was St. Patrick’s Day today, we had to add a slice of the themed cake to our dessert plate!

St. Patrick's Day cake.
St. Patrick's Day cake.
A tempting wine selection.
A tempting wine selection.
Lunch.
Lunch.
Dessert.
Dessert.

After agreeing with each other that we’d eaten too much, we left the restaurant to go back to our room. But we didn’t get far before we lured by the siren call of the ice-cream station!

Enjoying a post-dessert ice-cream.
Enjoying a post-dessert ice-cream.

After enjoying our ice-cream, we did a few laps around the ship’s walking track (in a token effort to walk off some of what we’d just eaten), and then headed back to our room. We relaxed in our room for a little while, enjoying watching the beautiful boats sail by the ship.

A nice boat, viewed from our verandah.
A nice boat, viewed from our verandah.

At about 6:00 pm we headed up to deck 11 to Galileo’s Lounge for a St. Patrick’s Day get-together. Naturally, a green pre-dinner cocktail was the thing to have.

St. Patrick's Day cocktail.
St. Patrick's Day cocktail.

After a bit of fun in the lounge, we went down to deck 5, to the Compass Rose restaurant for dinner. We’ve dined here every night we’ve been on the ship (because we’re creatures of habit and because it’s very good!).

Freshly-baked bread.
Freshly-baked bread.
Shanghai-style shrimp and pork dumplings in a ginger and soy broth.
Shanghai-style shrimp and pork dumplings in a ginger and soy broth.
Strawberry daiquiri sorbet.
Strawberry daiquiri sorbet.
New Zealand lamb chops.
New Zealand lamb chops.
Filet mignon.
Filet mignon.
Assorted vegetables.
Assorted vegetables.
Saint Honoré choux pastry with vanilla custard cream and chocolate sauce.
Saint Honoré choux pastry with vanilla custard cream and chocolate sauce.
Pistachio soufflé with white chocolate sauce.
Pistachio soufflé with white chocolate sauce.
Petit fours.
Petit fours.

On the way out after a beautiful dinner, we stopped and chatted to a lovely couple from Chicago, Jeff and Penny.
Earlier in the evening, they had generously given us a St. Patrick’s Day chocolate gift (which we are looking forward to trying!) from their hometown of Chicago.

Fannie May mint chocolate (a St. Patrick's Day gift from Jeff and Penny from Chicago).
Fannie May mint chocolate (a St. Patrick's Day gift from Jeff and Penny from Chicago).

When we got back to our room, we debated whether we’d have a night in or take in some of the entertainment options on offer. We decided to have a night in.

We’re cruising overnight to The Commonwealth of Dominica. We’ll dock at Dominica’s capital of Roseau early in the morning, and we’re looking forward to going ashore for a look around.