Corossol

Before the villas, St Barts was Corossol: the fishing village on its brown-sand cove keeps the island's oldest living tradition - straw work from the latanier palm, plaited into hats, baskets and the fine marli bands by women whose Breton-and-Norman-descended families have worked the craft for generations, sold from front rooms when the shutters stand open. Fishing boats still haul on the cove, the shell museum's collection adds its curiosity, and the village's quiet - old wells, stone walls, unhurried French - preserves the island that predates the jet-set chapter.

What you actually see

• The straw work - latanier plaiting from the front-room ateliers.
• The fishing cove - working boats on the brown sand.
• The village lanes - wells and walls of the old island.
• The shell collection - the little museum's curiosity.

When to go

December to May with the season; mornings find shutters open and weavers at work - purchases are the tradition's oxygen.

Honest expectations

It is a quiet, real village - discretion and greetings first, photography by permission; the craft's prices honour handwork, correctly.

Nearby

Gustavia, Public's cove and Flamands.