We had been there in December and for New Years when our friends from Canada visited us. So we knew where to go, and headed to Saint Anne anchorage. It was much less crowded than over the Christmas holidays, although still busy. Checked in, and loaded up on the superb bread and pastries. Yummy!!! Also they sell local juice in water bottles, and the pamplemouse was amazing as was citron. Pain Polska was made from sourdough and was just as if we were in Paris! We went into Le Marin, a bit further into the lagoon, and it was extremely crowded, and we couldn't find a spot to anchor, so we got a berth at the marina. It has the capacity to hold about 800 boats and has 100 moorings, so it was huge! We were in the older part of the marina, near the Mango Bay restaurant and the chandleries which was very convenient, and the restaurant had great snacks, beer, ice cream and wifi. So we hung out there a lot. We managed to dinghy up a creek to a shopping area where we could leave the dinghy and try to find supplies. We, after a trek, found a digital office and got French Island SIM cards for phone/internet. The internet through the data plan was rather slow, like we were back at the turn of the century. Not 3G to be found anywhere although it was advertised as such. Also found a Carrefour, and loaded up on cheese etc. Back to the boat, and headed off to Grande Anse. We found the last mooring available, and we were very lucky. We were close to the snorkelling area which was great. The problem with Grande Anse is that everything closes down at around 6 pm. None of the many restaurants on the beach serve dinner! So the one night we went to have dinner, no luck. We started walking in the dark down the road, and lucky found this great restaurant down a set of stairs at the bottom of the hill. We had great wine, cheese, charcouterie and smoked Marlin. They made the kids frites and gave them apples. We'd go back there again.
