Gustavia

The cove where Gustavia stands was first known as Le Carénage, probably because damaged ships were brought there to be careened. Saint Barthélemy was too dry, steep and rocky for sugar, so the island had little value to the plantation powers — but the harbour was a good one. In 1784 France gave the island to Sweden in exchange for trade rights in Gothenburg, and the name Gustavia, for King Gustav III, appears in the records between December 1786 and February 1787.

As a Swedish free port, Gustavia became a supply and trading centre for the warring powers of the Caribbean: captains sold captured prizes and booty here, and the harbour filled with ships of many nations. Slavery was practised on the island under Swedish rule. Three forts guarded the anchorage — Gustav, Karl and Oscar, first called Gustav Adolf — and the town prospered during the Napoleonic Wars, but declined afterwards. A treaty of 10 August 1877, approved by the islanders in a referendum, returned the island to France in 1878, and it has kept its free-port status.

The Swedish legacy survives in the street plan, the forts, the bell tower and the town's very name. In the second half of the 20th century tourism turned Gustavia into a harbour for yachts and luxury shops. Hurricane Irma damaged the island in September 2017, but by early 2018 transport and electricity were largely working again.

Gustavia is French in language and manners and Caribbean in its calendar. The town's year turns on the harbour: the Bucket Regatta in March, Les Voiles de Saint-Barth in April and other races bring large yachts into port, and Fort Oscar is a favourite place to watch them. Carnival fills the streets in the weeks before Lent and ends on Ash Wednesday with a black-and-white parade at Shell Beach, where Vaval, the Carnival King, is burned. January brings an international music festival, and the August Festival of Gustavia is the town's own celebration.

The Swedish century remains a point of pride. The Gustavialoppet, a running race held each December, keeps up the link with Sweden, Sweden keeps a consulate in the town, and the island's coat of arms carries the Three Crowns of the Swedish arms. La Pointe is an English-speaking quarter, and the town has an Anglican church, built in 1855 of stone brought from Sint Eustatius, as well as the Catholic church of 1829.

Visitors notice the understated style of the place: boutiques and long lunches rather than nightlife spectacle. Courtesy follows French habits, from greeting shopkeepers to a measured pace at the table.

The whole island had a population of 10,660 at the January 2023 census, and Gustavia is its administrative centre and main port. The territorial government, the sub-prefecture, the gendarmerie at Fort Oscar and the small Hôpital de Bruyn are all here, along with the town's nursery and primary schools.

The economy rests on luxury tourism and duty-free retail. High-end boutiques are an essential source of revenue, and restaurants depend on imported food, since almost nothing except seafood is produced locally. Tap water comes from desalinated seawater. The harbour is the town's working heart, busy with yachts, ferries from Saint Martin and the tenders of visiting cruise ships.

The rhythm follows the seasons. From December to April the quays are crowded and parking is scarce; early autumn is so quiet that many businesses close for a few weeks. Outside the high season the town feels like the small French village it is.

Gustavia's restaurants serve French, Italian, American and Swedish cooking, and fine dining sets the tone. Fish is the one local product, while cheese, wine and almost everything else is imported, mostly from the United States or France, which shows in the prices. Most restaurants add a service charge of 10–15 per cent to the bill, and the island hosts gastronomic events through the year.

Creole cooking appears alongside the French menus: accras (salt-cod fritters), boudin (a spiced blood sausage) and colombo, a curry made with chicken or goat. Fresh baguettes and pastries from the town's bakeries are a daily fixture of island life for residents and visitors alike.

The classic French Caribbean aperitif is ti-punch — white rum with cane syrup and lime. There is no real budget dining scene in the town; eating more cheaply means the bakeries, the supermarkets and a picnic on the sand at Shell Beach, a short walk from the harbour.