Two Sides of Paradise Await in St. Martin

Two Sides of Paradise Await in St. Martin
An airplane flies over Maho Beach en route to Princess Juliana International Airport. Gemma Fletcher/Shutterstock
Updated:
One minute, it’s all Holland, a bustling port city named for a Dutch naval captain, restaurants serving delicacies like “bitterballen” and gouda cheese patties and “stroopwafels” and “pannenkoeken,” shops with big, red wooden shoes and shelves lined with “speculaas” and “jenever,” all of it feeling a little out of place under palm trees, amidst sultry breezes. 
And then, a short drive later—weaving through the green center of the island, across a picturesque line of mountains—I’m in France, rolling with Peugeots and Renaults, in Grand Case. Here, streets are lined with galleries, as well as bistros and patios where diners sip good French wine and dive into plates heaped with frog legs, the blue of the Caribbean, just beyond, illuminating everything. 
Tim Johnson
Tim Johnson
Author
Toronto-based writer Tim Johnson is always traveling in search of the next great story. Having visited 140 countries across all seven continents, he’s tracked lions on foot in Botswana, dug for dinosaur bones in Mongolia, and walked among a half-million penguins on South Georgia Island. He contributes to some of North America’s largest publications, including CNN Travel, Bloomberg, and The Globe and Mail.
Related Topics