saline beach, waves, lorient view

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Didier

Second day on the island, getting in the proper groove, calming down :-) Nice day, quite windy again, still a bit hazy (we couldn’t see Saint Martin today from Pointe Milou). Saline was our first beach this morning. Still a bit of seaweeds but not really disturbing. Starting our water-polo fun in the waves with Julien. Back in the villa for lunch, nap, swimming-pool, readings, photos, fantastic views from the villa. Dinner at Sand Bar, les pieds dans le sable, just finished before some rain showers. Now on the terrace with a Clément 10 years and a robusto Heritage. Pure delight!

Walk to Saline with beautiful palm trees Ahh Saline beach Scintillating ocean Waves Fantastic shining Lorient

sbh2016 – day01 // first Caribbean views

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Didier

Dear all, so h.a.p.p.y to be here with the family! The trip was uneventful, but long as usual (about 17h all in all)… Nice weather, windy, bit hazy. The view from the villa (Pointe Milou) is….omg :-) First basic shopping at Minimart (Lorient) and quick but good dinner at Le Petit Bouchon (with rum shot), good smooth start.

Upon arriving…

Pre-sunset from the terrace

Another perspective

First Rhum vanille from La Gloriette with a Montecristo White Series on the terrace, listening to Radio Saint Barth. Nothing missing!!

Annual photos review 2015

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Didier

Quite an intense year again concerning photos… About 23’500 pictures shot in 2015 for 475 GB, thereof 4’000 published.

My pictures portfolio on SmugMug has generated about 1.2 million views during the year, with a peak of 25’045 views in one day on March 6. And cumulated since 2009, 5.3 million views.

The 12th day of our Saint Barth trip was the most visited part of the portfolio in 2015:
http://visuals.didierbeck.com/French-West-Indies/Saint-Barth-Feb-2015/Dailies/Day12/

Mobile-friendly test

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Didier

Easy-to-use Google tool:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

This test will analyze a URL and report if the page has a mobile-friendly design.

Google AdSense fails…

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Didier

Google AdSense fails, what for an unprofessional program… Days to activate your account and then, for no reason, we got our account deactivated. No explanation, nothing. No clue which rule we could have infringed as no explanation received. Absolutely no help and no support.

This is really only possible because they have a too dominant position. In the real world, how can such a “service” have success with such a bad service and communication??

Crazy… Bye bye Google AdSense, you are not the only one :-)

sbh2015 – day 13 // night shots, villa

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Didier

So, last morning in paradise, we will take the Winair flight at 2pm this afternoon to go back to Saint Martin. Air France flight at 5pm to Paris. We should be at Basel/Mulhouse at 10am on Saturday… As usual, difficult to leave the island after all this quality/family time. Again, we had fantastic holidays here. With all these strolls, landscapes, views, waves, colors, beaches and restaurants… Very restful time, energizing. Adaptation back is always brutal :-) But again, we are so happy and thankful “we could make it”, we feel lucky. Some last pictures to be posted, first some night shots (yes, it was completely dark) with a very high exposure time (30s). Always strange and funny results.

From the terrace Palm trees and stars Marigot Bay Marigot Bay, the other side

We were this year in a stunning villa, Eden House, with a marvelous garden and access to the Marigot Bay. Swimming-pool was also very nice

Swimming-pool The garden Other view on the garden Access to the Marigot Bay Stairs in the garden

sbh2015 – day 12 // sunset fort carl, full moon, big waves at saline

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Didier

Let’s start today’s review with … yesterday evening! After our first visit to Fort Carl, we have thought it would be good to go there for a sunset. This was done yesterday evening before going to the Sand Bar. Definitely a good spot for sunset, as Gustavia’s lighthouse, but another perspective, more open directly to the ocean.

Sunset from Fort Carl Great colors in the sky and in the sea Julien wanted to make also a picture of Laurence and I, the result is quite cool :-)

Picture taken by Julien Yesterday evening the moon was almost full, quite an interesting light during the night.

Almost full moon

Today, for our last full day in Saint Barth, we’ve decided to go back to Saline. What a windy day again! On the other side, the waves were just fantastic. Lot of fun with Julien (even Laurence) in the strong waves. I’ve taken my underwater cam to capture this special moment. Funny results.

Fantastic colors and waves at Saline Big wave In front of the wave Wall of water Another one Crazy colors and lights

Nice dinner at M&P to finish the day. And we’ve started to prepare our luggage for tomorrow… Last night in Saint Barth, we have our Winair flight at 2pm for Saint Martin, before crossing back the Atlantic.

sbh2015 – day 11 // grand cul-de-sac, wind, cactus

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Didier

What for a day again! Starting with some showers, so first we were heading to MarchéU (umh, last shopping there, we are leaving on Friday, gggrrrrr). As the wind was so strong today and to avoid the “special skin treatment with sand”, we’ve done again the stroll from Grand Cul-de-Sac to Petit Cul-de-Sac. Never been confronted with such a wind there, impressive. Kind of giant hot hairdryer :-) Very rough sea again, big waves crashing on the volcanic cliff. What for a contrast between the calm protected bay and the open ocean!

The path coming from GCdS Chequered volcanic stones Powerful waves crashing on the cliff Waves! A break in the wind The path continues till Petit Cul-de-Sac Back to GCdS with some great cactus Limit between open ocean and the protected bay Impressive transparency and colors

We’ve stayed at one of the little beaches of Grand Cul-de-Sac, as they are very well sheltered from the wind. Very nice place, calm (you see almost nobody), fantastic colorful views on the Bay. A wow again…

View on the Guanahani Our beach today

Dinner at the Sand Bar from Eden Rock, “right on the water’s edge”.

sbh2015 – day 10 // breakfast, colombier, petite anse

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Didier

As the weather was stable and sunny already in the morning, we’ve decided us for a full program at Colombier. This means: breakfast (Maya’s to go) and sandwiches for lunch (Petite Colombe) and enough to drink! We arrived there at 8am so we were totally alone quite a while , i.e. with the boats anchored in the Bay. Walk along the beach, readings, snorkeling, water polo, really a full program ;-) Only little inconvenience: a windy day again!

Several turtles on our way The nice path from Petite Anse to Colombier Breakfast on the beach, miam!

Empty beach in the morning Colorful view Cactus view on Petite Anse Petite Anse and Ile Bonhomme

Special program this evening, more to come!

sbh2015 – day 9 // toiny’s stroll, les petites anses, corossol beach

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Didier

Again a very “intensive” day in Saint Barth :-)

We’ve started the day with our typical Toiny’s stroll. But this time, we’ve continued the path along “Les Petites Anses” and come back by the road from Le Toiny. At least doubling the duration of the stroll, but what for a landscape! Really the wild part of Saint Barth… What a pity that a part of the hill there seems to be used as a dump for rubble. Don’t know if it’s “official” or just used “as is”. Really degrading the nature and the landscape. An awful contrast to the beauty of Les Petites Anses…

Starting the stroll with a view on Grand Fond Stranded boat on Toiny’s beach Path among rocks First view on Les Petites Anses Nice place for a quick portrait A wave of Petites Anses Another nice wave Overlooking Les Petites Anses View from above of Toiny Bay Toiny contrast of colors