13 & 14 August 2022 – Saturday & Sunday – St. Pierre & Miquelon Adventures

We spent Saturday exploring St Pierre. That started with an early morning (0630) sortie to the nearest bakery for fresh Fremch pastries. Delightful!

Some of us went on a guided tour in a van. That was very good. Others walked through the town. There was an open market and festival on Saturday that was quite good. Other activities included visiting the historical museum and hiking. 

An interesting part of St Pierre’s history is the US prohibition period. During that time alcohol was legal in St Pierre because it is France. So St Pierre enjoyed a very prosperous decade as a base for smuggling liquor and wine into the US and Canada. One hotel here claims that it was originally sided purely with wood from liquor crates.

That evening we organized a cocktails on the wharf for the 4 CCA boats and 3 other yachts. That was a good time. Then we went to a great dinner in town.

Sunday we split up again. Our original plan was to go to the nearby island of Miquelon and Langlade with Friendship 4. However the weather looked wet and foggy.

We had been told by Bill and Johanna Strassberg that Miquelon was a lovely island to visit. It is also French and about 25 miles from St Pierre. Ferry service exists between the islands but schedules can be variable. It turned out that the ferry to Miquelon on Sunday runs at 5 pm which is not very helpful for a day of sightseeing. However, there was an 8 am ferry to Langlade which is the lower part of the island covered with hiking trails. The ferry also brings you close to the long section of beach (27 km) that connects the two parts. The return ferry from Langlade was scheduled for 3:45 or 7 pm. There wasn’t great enthusiasm for the trip. However, I wanted to go and Mark said he too was interested. We had no other plans than to bring a lunch and wander around until our return trip.

It was quite foggy as we left our boat for the ferry terminal. The sign in the ticket office warned that old and infirm people should understand that the ferry didn’t come to a dock and passengers would be brought to land via a zodiac ( a large inflatable boat). Since we had lots of experience from Antarctica, we were not dissuaded. wanted to go to Miqulon but the only ferry in the morning went to Langlade. Miquelon has a village. Langlade is summer cabins and hiking. They are connected by a narrow sand isthmus. The two islands are 15 miles end to end.

Mark and I decided to go for it and took the ferry to Langlade. Nancy and Charlie made a run to the bakery before we got up so we had coffee and pastries.

The hour and 15 minute trip was quite foggy. We picked up a mooring that also held the zodiac. I was happy to have worn rain pants and my foil weather jacket. The ride was a bit wet for some but the beach landing was well executed. We gave back our PFDs and walked up to the parking lot. What now…we wondered. We were approached by a young man asking if we had booked a tour. When we replied no, he asked if we wanted one as he suggested a van drive through the island. It took about one second for us to agree to go. 

It turned out that Francois had come to the landing because his office closed earlier than the office in St Pierre and he thought someone might have booked a tour. Lucky us!! We were happy for his offer and no one else seemed to need help. 

Langlade has no roads for vehicles. Francois told us he would drive us up the long sand spit connection between Langlade and Miquelon then give us a tour of Miquelon which had been our initial objective anyway. We didn’t think we were going to walk nearly 20 miles to get to Miquelon so we were pleased.

Francois first drove us on every road on both islands (that took 2 hours). He lives here so he gave us a great tour. The isthmus connecting the two islands is only 100 yards wide in a couple spots. It has a dirt road down on it. Along the way at low tide you can see some of the many ships that have wrecked here thinking they could pass beyween the islands.

As we arrived at the “interpretation center” which gives much of the history, geology, flora and fauna information, we were told that our return ferry at 3:45 in Langlade was cancelled.

We knew there was a 7 pm ferry from Miquelon and we planned for that. After we visited the interpretation center, we went to lunch at a cute restaurant, la Mayonaize. Lunch was delicious and we decided to have a bottle of Rose to boot.

After lunch Francois took us on a short hike, to an enactment of a fishing dory returning home (the whole town and a TV station was there). Finally the fog cleared so Francois drove us up a mountain for a great view before dropping us at the ferry back to St Pierre. We got back at 8:30 pm and met everyone else for dinner. Neither of us could eat much, but we had great story to tell.

For Mark and I today was totally unexpected and one of the best days of the cruise. Thank you Francois!!

We met the rest of the crew at the restaurant for dinner. We learned that Nancy had taken a 10 min ferry trip to l’Ie aux Marins. This little island is only inhabited during the summer and is full of B&B’s to support tourism. Nancy felt the historical displays and particularly the museum were the best we have seen on this trip. She said the manner which the displays were set up matched the best in New York city.

Bev, Charlie, and Maggie spent the day on the boat or in the town.

Tomorrow we depart St Pierre and check back into Canada to continue our journey across the south coast of Newfoundland.

This was a very good day!