St Pierre & Miquelon

WHAT, WHERE?
Lily, Sebastian and I ventured to Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a self-governing overseas collectivity of France in the northwest Atlantic near Canada to seek out the last outpost of French colonialism in the region. The tiny islands of St Pierre & Miquelon (pronounced 'meek-lon) are nestled about 30km from the southern shore of Newfoundland and 3,700km west of European France. No doubt about it, this place is French. They fly the tricolor, spend the Euro, eat baguettes for breakfast, drive badly, make great coffee, close for lunch, drink wonderful wine and walk their poodles while smoking Gauloises. This is France. In North America.

The town of St Pierre from the lookout

GETTING HERE
We flew from Dallas to Boston then drove for the best part of two days through Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to the airport at Sydney for our flight to St Pierre. We were early for the flight and because we were the only passengers, the flight left an hour early. Our pilot, 21 year Dominic, had just received his pilots license in the mail and was excited to be taking his first paying passengers across the Gulf of St Lawrence to the tiny St Pierre airstrip. On learning this, I was not so excited.

Boarding Air St Pierre

St Pierre from the plane

The airport in St Pierre is less than 20 years old and because we were on the ONLY flight of the day we passed through immigration and customs in record time. In fact there was no customs. And the immigration officer left the airport for the day as soon as he finished stamping our passports. He was quickly followed by the pilot. The only unfortunate part was that because we were early, the taxi I had arranged with the hotel wasn't at the airport yet. We were the only ones there. After a quick phone call and a short wait we were at the brand new Hotel Jacques Cartier and it was fabulous - massive rooms and close to absolutely everything.

SOME FACTS
About 7,000 people live on the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, but there are almost 5,000 cars and barely 100km of roads. Almost everything is imported from either France or Canada, and the modest exports all come from the sea - fish, mollusks and crustaceans. There have been over 600 shipwrecks since 1800. Even at the height of summer it was cold and wet every day we were there.


EXPLORING ST PIERRE
A couple of days were spent wandering the streets of St Pierre and taking in the local highlights - the waterfront area, the lighthouse, cathedral, lookout point, and the many interesting houses. We ate at numerous cafes but the ones that stood out were Le Feu de Braise which had the best steak frites, Cafe du Chat Luthier just around the corner from the hotel and Les Delices de Josephine which had some of the best pastries around. The kids tried all of the ice cream shops and we all enjoyed the fresh bread everyday.

The waterfront and lighthouse

The Zazpiak Bat court

Just behind the cathedral is a place called Fronton Zazpiak Bat - which is a big red wall with one court on each side for a game called Jai-Alai. I didn't see any games being played but basically two people take turns at hurling a ball against the wall with a big scoop, trying to get it past the other. It's supposed to be one of the fastest sports in the world and is very popular in the Basque region of Spain. It looked impressive because the wall is huge, bright red and stands out like a beacon.

EXPLORING MIQUELON

At the tourist office in the town square we booked a day trip to Miquelon. We chronically underestimated how cold and windy it was going to be but our tour guide was kind enough to stop at her house and get some warm clothes for the kids to wear during the trip. The ferry was pretty rough and Seb vomited on the way over but once we got to Langlade all was well.

The zodiak with the main boat in the background

The drive from Langlade to the town Miquelon took us along the narrow isthmus and around the western coast to the very north of the island. The town is unremarkable but the church is pretty and the boats make for some very picturesque photos. There's a neat little museum with lots of nautical artifacts showcasing the unique history of the islands.

The church in Miquelon

There is a grave in the local cemetery for a British sailor - I forget his name. Legend has it that when you stand on his grave, you are actually standing in England. So the kids took turns jumping on and off the poor sailors grave because they really wanted to go to England.

Central Miquelon

I was quietly impressed with Saint Pierre and Miquelon - the food was fantastic and being 'in France' made it feel European somehow. But even in summer the weather was awful and everything is very expensive. I'll probably never go back, but I'm glad I've been.