St. Pierre and Miquelon has always been French: way back, the islands were part of New France. When today’s Quebec was ceded to the English as part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, the little islands off the south coast of Newfoundland were overlooked.

The folks in St. Pierre are very proud of their French heritage.

The town of St. Pierre is quite small and walkable if one watches carefully for traffic – people drive quickly for such a small place! – and sidewalks that are sometimes there and sometimes not. Houses are built close to the street to maximize garden space behind, and on most streets there were once narrow sidewalks. Residents were allowed to build temporary porches in winter to keep the cold from pouring in when the front door was open, but more recently the governing authorities agreed the porches could be permanent. So sometimes the sidewalk is there and sometimes not. 🙃

I arrived in the late afternoon of a gloriously sunny day but the following day was stubbornly misty, so my photographs are sometimes clear and sometimes not. A little like the sidewalks. Buildings are colourful and most of a similar design. The yellow and green building is an exception. I think it is a Ministry of Finance office (very bright for such a serious activity). And the new museum, the Arche, is modern and wonderfully airy inside. Re-inforced concrete made its first appearance on the islands after the wooden cathedral burned to the ground and the bishop declared he wanted an inflammable replacement.

Fishing has long sustained the St. Pierre and Miquelon economy.

There’s no town centre, no waterfront walk with cafes and little shops. Commercial are scattered about and often not easily identified. I stumbled upon the restaurant where I had a dinner reservation when I chose it for lunch. It is Le P’tits Gravier but you wouldn’t know it from the sign.

A few final images from my time on the east coast. A woman feeds the gulls once a week. Mist clinging to a dandelion. And one of me that my St. John’s photographer took. Thanks for coming along with me on this trip. 😊