Sitting with our eyes closed, we tried to keep our minds off of the pounding motion as the ferry bounced along the rough waves. From Newfoundland, it only took an hour and when we stepped off the ferry, we were on French soil. We had arrived at the Town of St. Pierre on the island of St. Pierre. It was a bright sunny day and we were full of excitement, taking in the colours of the Charles De Gaulle Square.
"With its northern maritime climate, we promise you there will never be a heat wave! The air is pure, the landscape Nordic and the islands are free from atmospheric pollution. Urban stress is non-existent, quite the opposite. This is an island where everybody goes home for lunch and doors are rarely locked."
"Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is where France meets North America, a climate akin to the Shetlands, the architecture of Iceland, the landscape of Scotland. Add to that a Basque festival, a Seafood festival and Bastille Day and you’ll begin to understand the islands."
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| Bev and Al walking around town |
How did it come to pass that there are islands belonging to France just off the coast of Newfoundland? You may remember from your high school history classes that in the years before Canada became a nation, there were regular battles between various combinations of English, French, Spanish and American armies and militia. As a result of the 1763 Treaty of Paris which ended the Seven Years' War, the French gave up all lands in what they had called New France to the British and Spanish. As a token gesture, France was allowed to keep St. Pierre and Miquelon. However, in subsequent decades, possession of the islands flipped back and forth between the British and French several times as each country invaded them, until ownership was finally settled in 1814 with the Treaty of Paris, although the French did not resettle them until 1816 and have occupied them since. 2016 is the 200th anniversary of the reoccupation.
The Town of St. Pierre is located on a hillside which runs down to the harbour. The narrow streets are set with cobblestones. We climbed up to our lodging, the Hotel Residence Les Iris. The rooms of the hotel are on the second and third floors and span across the block from one street to the next. Below on one street is the hotel entrance and on the other street are several restaurants and bars. During the day we saw very few residents out on the street. Where were they? Working? We did not know. At night we saw many at the local restaurants having dinner and dates. Having our rooms above said restaurants, we also heard them all night long laughing, socializing and celebrating. The pace is very slow and casual. At 11:30 a.m., everything shuts down and the people go home to have lunch with their family. Even during the school year, the children all go home for lunch. Two and half hours later, lunch is over and back to work or school everyone goes.
We had a van tour of the island. The population of St. Pierre is approximately 6,000 while on Miquelon there are approx. 600 residents. On St. Pierre, the police force consists of 35 members, a large contingent for an island that has no crime! A post on St. Pierre is part of the rotation for the officers in France and it is a welcome change for them. The island has over 1,000 horses that are kept as pets. Very few of them are ridden! In the winter they are all housed in one large stable.
One of the sites we visited was the cemetery. When I made a request to the tour guide to visit the cemetery, he was very puzzled why anyone would want to go there. He wasn't going in! You could feel the fear in his voice like it was a forbidding place. First, you should know that St. Pierre is mainly Catholic and the island cemetery follows the European style. I know that in France, the cemeteries have many crypts and cement covers with headstones placed very close together. When looking at the St. Pierre cemetery, I was reminded of the burial place of Jim Morrison, from the Doors, who is buried in Paris.
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| Jim Morrison's burial site in Paris |
The cemetery on St. Pierre has been moved several times. How? Now it is in its permanent location near the waterfront. Each generation has their own tradition with affordability which is clear in the headstones etc. There are vaults for families. Some had porthole windows in them so you can see into the vault although you would need the assistance of a flashlight to see anything. Apparently, the portholes were from ships that sunk. I am not sure if the person inside actually died from a ship wreck or not. Many were just individual burial sites with a cement slab on top with a headstone. The headstones in the early days all had huge crosses on them. Today, the crosses are gone and the headstone is very plain. During one period of time, the cement slab was big enough to hold the casket but now the casket is buried with a smaller slab on top. The burial plots are very close together making the cemetery look crowded and full although there are over 6000 people buried there. Only a few people get cremated because there are no facilities here and the body would have to be flown to St. John's, Newfoundland and then the ashes brought back for interment. Interesting!
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Cemetery on St. Pierre
Photo by David Morrish 2006. Notice the port hole window in the vault. |
We visited one of two museums in town. We learned about the history of fishing on St. Pierre. Too bad that over the years over-fishing has caused such a problem to the industry. The large fish processing plant on St. Pierre now just sits empty and the largest job sector is government jobs. The opportunity to repurpose the building is just waiting to be considered. How about a museum or shopping or art gallery and studio or hotel. There are so many ideas but I guess there must be a reason.
The food was excellent. All the dishes we ordered were well presented and yummy. Walking everywhere and up and down the hilly streets helped to keep the pounds off.
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| Yummy food! |
We were there for an evening, two nights, one whole day and the morning before we departed. During that time we saw almost everything you could possibly see on this island. After writing this statement, I looked at what other people have said about St. Pierre and there were a number of things that we missed. Do your research beforehand and plan out your stay. We did lots, considering the time we had. It was an interesting experience.
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| Anne and Ilse waiting for the ferry and reading up on the island |
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| The Ferry |
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| View from the wharf |
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| The Path to the Lighthouse |
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| The Lighthouse |
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A light from a lighthouse now displayed at the museum
Unique and huge! |
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| The Post Office located beside the wharf |
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| View from the fire escape outside our room |
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| View from the fire escape outside our room -- the other direction |
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| Cannons from the past |
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| View of coast outside of the town |
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| Field with horses |
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| The new hospital |
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| Cat in the window |
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| View of one of the narrow streets |
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| The Market |
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| The window of the Barbershop |
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| A & P assisting with the welcome to a shop |
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Having lunch at Le Chat Luthier. A & P were right at home with
all the decor cats in the restaurant.
The restaurant featured pizza, burgers and sushi. What a combination! |
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