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Get to know Grand Fond

Grand Fond in not a tourist neighborhood—this wild southeastern corner of St. Barth is where the longtime locals live, a place where people share the rocky cliff roads with the many local goats. At the top of Grand Fond, you can gaze upon a panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding islands. And at the bottom of Grand Fond are two photogenic attractions, the “Washing Machine” and the natural pools, which reward those who manage the steep trek down. As you walk along the perimeter of the cliffs in Grand Fond, you’ll come across a small stretch of beach where the waves crash and swirl over the rocks looking like, well, a washing machine. Keep hiking and you’ll find the natural pools, where the ocean water is trapped between the rocks to create a couple of beautiful, clear tidal pools, perfect for a relaxing dip.

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Living in St. Barth

St. Barthélemy, or St. Barth, is a small island of volcanic rock, just eight square miles big, in the Caribbean. But this tiny island, with its 14 public beaches, is one of the world’s most luxurious getaways that also manages to feel completely down to earth. An overseas collectivity of France, St. Barth was sparsely populated and rarely visited by outsiders until the 1950s. In the mid-1950s, David Rockefeller, who had spied St. Barth from his sailboat, bought and built his clifftop estate. In 1953, Rémy de Haenen, a Dutch-French adventurer, opened the Eden Rock hotel, and with that, the island was off to the races. In a place where no building is higher than a palm tree and the celebrities blend into the sea, St. Barth has managed to remain unspoiled and genuine. It’s an island where superyachts dock but also where giant turtles swim in secret swimming holes and goats rule the cliffs, all part of the magic of St. Barth.