The French Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (SPM) is a collection of 8 islands in the north Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland. The two inhabited islands are the only remaining part of the French Empire in North America. The 6000 or so inhabitants are French citizens with European Union passports. French is the official language and the islands are unmistakably French.
There are two ways to get to SPM. You can fly from Canada from any of Halifax, as I did, Montreal, St. John’s or Sydney. The flights are only certain days or the week and have strange seasonal schedules that change frequently. The Airline website is highly confusing as well. The best bet is to call Air Saint-Pierre directly and hope they return your call to book an expensive flight.
While cheaper, unless you live in Maritime Canada, the ferry can be a big hassle. You must get to a place called Fortune, Newfoundland where there is a daily one-hour ferry to SPM. In order to get there it takes either flying to St. John’s, Newfoundland or taking a series of ferries from Nova Scotia after a long drive from anywhere in the States or even Canada. Trust me, it can be confusing as I seriously looked into it. With gas prices etc., it’s better to just fly.
I based myself at Hotel Robert (pronounced Row-Bair) right in the center of town across from the port and easy walking distance to all restaurants and any points of interest in town. The rooms are very clean, reasonable and the staff was very friendly and helpful.
I ate lunch at the restaurant in the hotel twice and it was fabulous as all the restaurants I ate at in SPM were. Restaurants were the major highlight of my visit to SPM.
Sad to say but the weather was terrible for the first two days I was here and today it was nice on St. Pierre but I went to Miquelon and the weather there, only a few miles away was awful! Go figure!
That aside, my favorite restaurant where I had dinner twice was definitely ‘Restaurant Le Feu De Braise’. This place had tremendous steak frites with assorted sauces (Roquefort and au poivre are always my favorite), risotto with shrimp and they even had pretty good thin crust pizzas.
SPM was like a little Paris for good food. There were also a few patisseries of course. I couldn’t help but indulge in pain au chocolate and brioche just like in Paris. The only thing that was missing from Paris was much to do!
Obviously, when you come to a place like SPM, you’re not expecting a big party or anything but it is a small island to say the least and with the horrible weather I had, the activities were limited. Hiking was off limits because the hiking is all up steep rocks and the rain and mud made it too slippery to go alone.
So I braved the rain, wind and cold the first day and checked out the town and what it had to offer and basically just sought out the best looking place for dinner and took some pictures. On day two, the weather was again very rainy so I arranged a car tour of the rest of the island. It was only an hour but the driver, Jean-Claude, was very nice and spoke excellent English. Speaking French makes my head hurt so I was thrilled!
The excellent tour took me to all points on the island with some history about each stop and site. Aside from just checking out the scenery through the low-lying fog, the most interesting thing for me was hearing about SPM during prohibition.
Mobsters, such as Al Capone, used SPM during the 1920’s to smuggle booze from Europe and Canada into the United States. There is actually a house still standing built solely from the crates of Cutty Sark that Capone smuggled from SPM. That was pretty cool.
Obviously after prohibition was repealed; SPM went into an economic depression as it lost its main source of revenue. Now the main source of income is subsidies from the French Government. Most people work “government” jobs somewhere on the island. SPM is also granted certain tax relief. The islands couldn’t survive without the subsidies from the government. Much like other overseas territories of the French and British such as Wallis or Pitcairn.
On my last day I retook a lot of pictures in better weather on St. Pierre and then I took the one-hour ferry to Miquelon and had a look around. Originally, I was going to walk the length of the 15-mile island but the uncertainty about the weather made it a smart move to just head to town. Luckily, I did because it was freezing, and rainy.
Miquelon is a small and flatter version of St. Pierre. The houses and architecture is the same, brightly colored houses and buildings and lots of open land. There isn’t much else to do on Miquelon unless it’s good weather and you can head across the connecting sand isthmus to Langlade.
As you can probably tell from my tone I am very lukewarm at best on SPM. I am very excited to get out of here in the morning. I did enjoy my time here but there isn’t enough to occupy you for four days unless there is good weather and you have someone to hang out with. Food is the highlight and the locals are very pleasant.
If you choose to come here, do a day trip from Newfoundland on the ferry or work the schedule so your flights give one or two night maximum; which would be ideal in summer. Take it easy because there isn’t much going on but it is an interesting place to be.
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
May 13, 2012 by 39 Comments
Nice pictures but sounds like the weather was awful…sorry to hear that
thanks buddy…it happens…unfortunately
The steak frites looks amazing!
They certainly were…literally one of my 5 favorite foods if done with the right sauce
I like how you posted a picture of the lighthouse in the fog and in the sun, that’s pretty cool.
Thanks! I wanted to illustrate just how foggy it was day 1…I literally couldn’t see the ground until about 10 feet before landing that morning and it didn’t clear up until late the following afternoon
Pretty houses
yes they are cool…there are also some pretty big, modern houses out of town…I will post the rest of the pics on Facebook sometime soon
Was the beer that cold? LOL great sign!
Haha, I don’t know, I didn’t go inside that place or try their beer…it was the bar below the restaurant I ate at twice and I kept passing it so I had get a pic of it
Sounds pretty boring! But nice job trying to make it sound OK!
haha thanks
The horses are cute!
I love how you tell it. Obviously the place blows but you still point out the good features but subtly let it be known that it sucks…I like it!
Haha, thanks…I guess!
Very nice
I’ve never heard of this place. I learn so much from reading your site.
Thanks Sarah, always good to hear from you. When you travel to places like I di at this stage, many places are really off the grid for most people.
Nice pictures Lee, thank you
Good article, thank you. When will you come back to India?
Thanks, I have no idea when I will be back in India next. I am still recovering from the monsoon season the last time I was there! I am sure I’ll end up back there at some point soon though.
The Philippines is much better to visit, it is warm here and so beautiful!
True story!
Sounds miserable but congratulations on getting closer to your goal. When are you gonna do Greenland?
Thanks buddy. Either late June or July I will likely visit Greenland. I am trying to coordinate with 3 buddies to go with so it’s a bit of a process but they have the day trip starting in June from Reykjavik and several other options out of Iceland and Copenhagen. I will figure it out in the next few weeks. After St. Pierre, I want to wait til it’s as warm as possible up there before I go! I hate the cold!
Not as cute as Halifax… and no Gazebos!
is that you being funny?! Haha
Love the Al Capone history there, I’d love to see that!!!
I have been tracing my family’s past and came upon the name Jean-Charles Blacquiere, who was born in Miquelon on January 1, 1788, who was my great, great, great, great grandfather, from what I can deduce from the paper trail that I’ve collected. That’s as far back that I’ve been able to go and would love to get more information about Jean-Charles; perhaps his parents’ names. Can you locate any information or source for any additional information.
Thank you, in advance, for any assistance that you can provide.
P.S. Although my Ancestors were French, I don’t speak or read French…..
Good luck but I know nothing about your ancestry or how to track it down…I don’t know where you got that idea but again good luck
You can easily get information from the Archives of St. Pierre which you can find on website Musee d’arche. I also have antecedents, albeit on St. Pierre. Most of the folks on Miquelon are of Basque descent. The Archives are very organised and the folks there are terribly helpful. Also, the young fellow who did the blog gave a false impression. The place does not ‘blow’. it is a beautiful place with great food, great history, gorgeous scenery, horseback riding, boating etc. I realise he had bad weather, but it is really the kind of place that lends itself to a longer visit.
Very belated addition to the conversation, but, Mairi, I could not agree more with your comments. I was recently in SPM, and, no, the place definitely does not “blow.” Everything you said is true. Granted, Lee had bad weather, but all the more reason to arrange a longer visit. I laughed at the recommendation of a two-night maximum stay. I spent four nights on St. Pierre and three on Miquelon and could have happily filled at least one more day on each island. I returned feeling like I had been to a special place. The blog was indeed unfair. Thank you for your comments of so long ago now.
Great coverage, Lee.
Wow. As Canadian, I am ashamed that I have never heard of this place until now. But, if you say that it is a day trip out of Newfoundland, then I will have to check it out whenever I go to Newfoundland. Thanks for the post! It seems like a hybrid of Cape Breton and maybe Greenland I would say?
The last picture is so hilarious! “Beer as cold as your ex-gf’s heart” what a way to take attention! ^_^ nice catch Lee! :~)
Very nice images of the colorful houses. Very interesting place.
Hello Lee amazing review…! Do you perhaps remember any of the beer brands sold in St. Pierre?
I pressume most of them are french or canadian or american.. I would like to know if by any chance you know of the existence of any local beers in St. Pierre…
Sorry to disturb, I just need the information and sources are very limited..! Cheers!
Francisco (Asuncion – Paraguay)
Interesting! Nice pictures, Lee!
Hello Francisco – I have just come back from St Pierre and Miquelon (last week) I can confirm they sell lots of beer and very strong too. The main brand is called Miqu’ Ale
As Lee says not much going on but the Prohibition story is correct.
Dave (Liverpool)