Seniors Head For Warm St. Barts

Seniors, let’s head for Saint Barthélemy, a French-speaking Caribbean island commonly known as St. Barts, and famous for its white-sand beaches and upscale designer boutiques. St. Barthélemy lies about 35 kilometers southeast of St. Martin and north of St. Kitts.

The capital, Gustavia, encircling a yacht-filled harbor, has many high-end restaurants and historical attractions like the Wall House Museum, whose exhibits highlight the island’s Swedish colonial era. Perched above Gustavia is 17th-century Fort Karl, looking out over popular Shell Beach.

 St. Barts is an arid, volcanic rock of only 8 square miles fully encircled by shallow reefs where senior visitors will discover a variety of iguanas, night-blooming cactus, beaches and luxury yachts, designer boutiques and perhaps even several celebrities.

Seniors Enjoy Caribbean Dreamland

Inhabited primarily by the descendants of the original French settlers and transplanted Europeans, the island has a strong, independent personality. Frequent visitors who know the islands in the region say that St. Barts is the most unique and unusual of the various French West Indies islands.

 As soon as you land at Gustave III Airport, seniors, you’ll find yourself transported into a dreamland, a far-away place without the constraints of everyday life. Both the airport and the island’s main town of Gustavia are named for King Gustav III of Sweden. Excellence, luxury, calmness, peaceful, serenity…the perfect adjectives to describe the island.

The Caribbean’s most elite, most expensive island lives up to its reputation as an adult sandbox, where the rich and famous gather. But St. Barts has charms that make it attractive to regular folk like you and me, from its uncrowded white-sand beaches to its distinctly Gallic flair.

Seniors Enjoy Beautiful Beaches

The tiny capital of Gustavia, with its gingerbread-trimmed cottages and top-notch designer shops, surrounds a yacht-filled harbor.

On the opposite side of the island, near the airport, St.-Jean is a diminutive strip of attractive boutiques and beach bars that some have  compared to St.-Tropez. Imagine that!

The 22 gorgeous, white-sand beaches are the trump card of St. Bart’s. It possesses a definite French vibe.  TripAdvisor has been to St. Barts and has nearly three dozen things to keep you busy, primarily the many beaches starting off with Colombier  Beach. CNN ranked Saline Beach as No. 5 among the top 100 in the world.

Hop on board this plane as we land in St. Barts skipping across the bay to touch down. So seniors, its time for a visit with your travel agent to learn how easily you can  land in this French-speaking paradise.  -jeb