The French part of St-Martin is the larger in area. Its highest point (and the highest point of the whole island) is the 425m Pic de Paradis, one of the few places on the island which is covered with fairly
luxuriant vegetation because of the more copious rainfall. The coast here also has the island’s best beaches. There are innumerable hotel developments, mostly on the coast. Some of them are extremely luxurious aiming for rich American and European clients.

Marigot

The main town of the French part, Marigot’s free port status has led to it having lots of fashionable shops selling luxury goods along the extensive new sea front and in the little streets of the town centre.

Recent development of the relatively deep water Port Galisbay facilities on the N of the town means that
small cruise liners can now call and offload streams of passengers to quarry the shopping arcades on the seafront (West Indies) or around the marina of
Port la Royale. That said, the choice of duty free goods like audio-visual and photographic equipment, as well as the number of shops selling them, is not as great as in Philipsburg in the Dutch part. Even so, prices appear attractive provided buyers remember what they may have to pay in duty when they reach the customs control in their home country – or the risk of being caught if they don’t. The majority of the restaurants in the town centre or further out concentrate on French cuisine, only the simpler establishments offering Creole specialties.

Around the island