St. Maarten

Dutch Sint Maarten, 16 sq.miles and French Saint Martin, 21 sq. miles.

Today we toured an island of contrasts – the smallest land mass in the world shared by 2 sovereign states, with 2 languages, laws and systems. We docked at Phillipsburg in St. Maarten where shopping is on Front Street and Back Street with many duty free shops and it feels like you’re in a Dutch village. It had 140 years of the Spanish, Dutch and French fighting for possession until it was settled in 1648. The establishment of the sugarcane plantations during the late 1700’s inevitably brought with it slavery. The exploitive colonial system prospered until slavery was abolished in 1863 and 1848. In 1939, import and export taxes were rescinded and the island became a free port.
We drove over to St. Marigot, the French capital which looks like a charming village in Provance transplanted to the Caribbean with flower filled arcades, boutiques and pastel colored houses. It is delightfully Gallic with no border, just a line on the road, where you see baguette laden locals on bicycles passing the khaki clad gendarme. This saleswoman is, I presume, a Rastafarian and has very long hair in dreadlocks, right past her knees.
As it was Sunday, we saw people entering the Church and many of black African women descendents wore head turbans.