A visit to this double-barreled island nation means the opportunity to visit the Dutch side of the island, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the northern side of the island, a part of the French Republic, without border patrol doing additional passport checks. Besides a flag and sign posted on the side of the road, there is no noticing you’ve changed countries. Walk, drive, jog, or swim between these two nations effortlessly. So why stay where? Why pick sides? These choices are personal and made for a myriad of reasons.

What we experienced while staying on the Dutch side and popping over to the French for dinner one evening was a lot. Determined to experience the influence of Europe