News

Mar 16, 2001

Past, present and future

March 8th is International Women's Day, and this year it falls at a very interesting time for St Barth. Here's the scenario: Sunday, March 11 will witness the first round of voting in the island's election of its next mayor. What does this have to do with women? Well, quite a bit as it turns out. For a rather male-chauvinist country, France has decided that the time has come to extend its national slogan of "Liberty, Fraternity, Equality" to include the female half of the population as well (I'm not sure who made this decision as many of the French men I know think it is total nonsense!). In any event, this has led to a parity law in politics: one woman for every man. In the case of St Barth, this means that the next city council will be made up of 14 men and 14 women. The mayor will still be male as there are only three men running for the position, but there have never been so many women on the city council in the past. And there are some pretty strong women on the incumbent mayor's list (As a full-blooded Yankee I don't vote here but I'd bet the incumbent is a shoe-in for the next six years). And these women are strong-willed and strong-minded, a combination guaranteed to raise the decibel level at town hall a few notches I'm sure. May the best man win the election, but when he does, 14 women are guaranteed to go along for the ride.
space

I met a guy at a dinner party in New York a few weeks ago. A guy who remembers St Barth in the 1960s when he started coming here as a tourist. He remembers the days before well-stocked supermarkets, when he used to bring coolers full of food for his family as well as friends on the island. He was friendly with Marius and his family at Le Select and brought goodies for them in exchange for inside information about getting fresh fish from the fisherman. He also remembers a market near the chapel in Colombier where the local women in their white bonnets and straw hats would set out home-made items for sale, with at least 27 varieties of blood sausages. Our friend Alan also has old-time memories of the island. My favorite is a story he tells about driving home through Lorient one night and seeing something parked in the middle of the road. When he got close enough, he saw that it was a very large pig with no intention of moving aside. So Alan got out of his car and walked up to a nearby house, and with his limited French, pointed to the road and muttered pig. The owner didn't look the slightest bit surprised and simply put on his hat and went out to encourage the pig out of the road. I love all these days of yore stories, even if some of my friends remember a St Barth that maybe never existed. But it is great that people have such fond memories for this place, and the way it used to be, while its politicians are busy fighting over the best prospects for the future.

More to come,

Ellen Lampert-Greaux

Print

<<<

[Apr 10, 2012] Beyonce and Jay-Z spend Easter in St. Barts

Beyonce and Jay-Z have taken their daughter on her first vacation. The couple, who celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary last week, have been enjoying the sunshine on the Caribbean island of St. Barts with three-month-old Blue Ivy over the weekend, and took the tot for a day trip on a yacht. ...

News

Past, present and future

[Apr 10, 2012] Beyonce and Jay-Z spend Easter in St. Barts

[Apr 2, 2012] Les voiles de Saint-Barth 2012

[Mar 31, 2012] The Ambiance of St Barths Bucket 2012

[Mar 27, 2012] Bucket Regatta 2012: SY Rebecca

[Mar 14, 2012] Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell in holidays

[Jan 19, 2012] Chris Hemsworth - Elsa Pataky - Matt Damon

[Jan 3, 2012] Tamara Mellon on the beach

[Jan 2, 2012] Gary Lineker and his wife

[Oct 12, 2011] Best Beaches in St Barts

[Oct 8, 2011] Is St. Barts Your Next Holiday Destination?

[Sep 9, 2011] Vacation With the Rich and Famous at St. Barts

[Aug 27, 2011] Daytripping in the Caribbean

[Aug 20, 2011] For $43 Million, You Can Be Roman Abramovich's Neighbor In St. Barths

[Aug 13, 2011] Brooke Burke & David Charvet Tie the Knot in St Barts

[Jun 20, 2011] St. Barth Summer Sessions Aug 5-15, 2011

[May 18, 2011] Eclipse - Maga Yacht of Roman Abramovich - The Biggest Superyacht in the world

[May 5, 2011] Ashley Rodriguez Trio in St Barts from May 5th to May 15th 2011

[Aug 30, 2010] Earl Hurricane - St Barts - 30 August 2010

[Aug 10, 2010] Saint Barth Summer Sessions

[Jun 7, 2010] The Great Fish Debate