Nine Meals in St. Pierre

St. Pierre & Miquelon is a self-governing territory of France, located just off the southeastern coast of Newfoundland.  An archipelago of eight islands, it is a vestige of the once-vast territory of New France. Its residents are French citizens, and to cross to St. Pierre from Fortune, Newfoundland is to cross international borders.

When we planned this season in Newfoundland, we wanted to be sure we could visit St. Pierre.  We had hoped to include the constituent island of Miquelon in the same visit, but out itinerary and the lack of resources to care for our cats while we were away from our RV caused us to limit the trip.  So we settled for three days (2 nights) in the village of St. Pierre, a very colorful and quaint, European-style town graced with a pretty lighthouse in the main harbor:

One can get to St. Pierre by small plane or by ferry.  We chose the latter, and boarded the ferry in Fortune, Newfoundland, where our RV is camped.  The St. Pierre & Miquelon ("SPM") Ferry boasts two medium-sized ferries painted in contrasting red and blue colors, seen here resting in harbor in St. Pierre:

Our voyage lasted 1.5 hours, and as we crossed, generally in a southward direction, we actually advanced 1/2 hour in time zone from Newfoundland, which itself is 1.5 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time.  In bad weather the crossing can be rough, and in our case the waves were choppy enough to get more than one passenger seasick.  But we, ourselves, prevailed without succumbing, and were in high spirits as we disembarked at the ferry terminal in St. Pierre.

Our little bed and breakfast inn, Nuits Saint Pierre, is just a short, 2-block walk up a quaint, narrow street from the ferry terminal, and sits cuddled up against a pizza restaurant, Cafe de la Gare.  The owner of our inn happens also to work at the ferry terminal, and oversees the care of his residents between ferry arrivals and departures.

Knowing that we had such a short time to explore St. Pierre & Miquelon, we decided to limit our visit to walking around the St. Pierre village and its environs.  While we could have brought our Jeep across on the ferry -- or indeed brought our bicycles to venture further afield, we felt that we could find plenty of adventure to fill a couple days just by walking around.  So we rode the ferry as pedestrians.  The next blog entry will tell you the stories of our hikes around town; this entry is about other cultural experiences, including the nine delicious French meals we enjoyed in St. Pierre.

We hastened to unpack and get out and about, because we deferred lunch until our arrival, and it was already 3:00 pm.  Kathy found the one pub that offers its trade in St. Pierre -- which, coincidentally, opens at 3pm -- and we headed over there.  However, we were briefly diverted by this wonderful governmental liquor, wine and beer store, known formally as the Comptoir d'Importation des Alcools, but more informally as the "CIA."  David joked that this must have been one of their many secret safe houses, and insisted that we take a look inside.  There was a great selection of all types of alcohol, and we purchased a gin (for the Great 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Gin Tasting in Uvalde, Texas next April) and some other presents.

Down the block was our first destination:  Cafe Roc, a coffee shop where we anticipated ordering a substantial lunch.  However, only coffee and scones (and ice cream) were on order, and so our "substantial" lunch was a coffee and scone.

That was Meal #1.

We were still peckish, and so we looked around for more nourishment, finding a dive -- I mean pub -- known as "Bar Le Rustique," and indeed, it was.  It smelled of smoke and looked like the owners had forgotten to update it for several decades.  But, outside, on the street in front of the pub, probably thanks to the enhanced street dining promoted by the Covid epidemic, we found lovely seating in the glorious, sunny air.  It granted us a bonus, too -- a beautiful view of the lighthouse and of the church perched on Ile aux Marins across the harbor:

That was Meal #2.  

After enjoying the air and the view and the overheard lilting music of conversations in French, we wandered slowly back to our inn to prepare for dinner.

Most anyone who reads this will know that Europeans -- and particularly the French -- do not sup early.  The earliest reservations we could get for dinner was 7:00 pm and that is very early by French standards.  But we were famished and we enjoyed the fare just as much as if we had waited a couple more hours.

Our dinner restaurant was Les P'tits Graviers (literally, the "little gravels"), colloquially a reference simultaneously to small fishing boats that ply the inshore fishing grounds, and the people (mostly women and children) who historically stayed ashore to process the cod once it was caught by the men.

This was a classic French restaurant and the food was exquisitely prepared.  The ambience was quiet and pleasant.  Coincidentally (perhaps not), the restaurant offered a wine from Chateau Petites Graviers, in the Saint Emillion region of Bordeaux.  Restaurant name equals winery name?  An inevitability, and we ordered it:

We will not bore you with the food we ordered, but will only say that Kathy's duck and David's cod were both scrumptious.  Being French, the portions were just right for our slower metabolisms.  We finished off with a creme brulee, which we required whenever we go to a French restaurant.

That was already Meal #3, and we had only been in St. Pierre for several hours!

By the time we got back to our inn, it was well after 9:00 pm, and we fell into bed and the welcoming arms of Morpheus.  We knew nothing until the late (for us) hour of 7:00 am.  No cat alarm clocks ringing at 5:00 am this morning.

Our inn offers a continental breakfast with coffee or tea, and enjoyed some very tasty and very French pastries -- this was Meal #4 -- and promptly headed off to find a real breakfast.  As it turns out, nothing in St. Pierre is open before 10:00 am, and we were hunting breakfast at 8:30 am.  Luckily, a patisserie/boulangerie on the other side of town is open as early as 6:00 am to supply the local hostelries with the pastries they give their guests (such as the pastries we had just finished).  We walked the mile or so over to Graves Boulangerie et Patisserie, where we found a Quiche Lorraine (for David) and a Croques Raclette (for Kathy), both of which we actually shared.

This was Meal #5!

Our other blog entry will fill you in on the extensive hiking and exploring we did all morning after second breakfast.  Eventually, we arrived at an exceptional museum, Arche Musee et Archives de St. Pierre et Miquelon, which boasts a permanent exhibit on the history and prehistory of St. Pierre & Miquelon, as well as various interesting rotating exhibits of interest in connection with the islands.  The museum building itself, built in 1999 is striking, resembling the prow of a boat.  The well-done exhibits here cover the islands' history, including Prohibition times. The showstopper is the guillotine – the only one to slice in North America. Islanders dropped the 'timbers of justice' just once, in 1889, on a murderer. The museum also offers bilingual architectural walking tours.

We knew we would love this museum the moment we entered, when Kathy spotted (and hugged) a First Order Fresnel Lens (well known to aficionados of lighthouses):

The middle floor of the museum offers a beautiful lounge with expansive views of the village and harbor of St. Pierre:

We missed the guillotine exhibit because it was being renovated.  However, we greatly enjoyed the permanent exhibit on the history of St. Pierre & Miquelon, which occupies the entire top floor of the museum.  Most interestingly, historic information is combined not only with artifacts, but with modern artwork depicting events of historical significance.  For example, this painting, "Naufrage a l'Anse a Rodrigue," (Shipwreck at Rodrigue Cove), by Michele Foliot depicts an event that repeated itself over the centuries throughout French and English communities on the coast of Newfoundland and the French islands:

The unique architecture of St. Pierre, which is a pleasing blend of French and Newfoundland design, gets extensive examination in the museum, even including these paintings of the architecture of local houses by schoolchildren:

We wished the exhibits, while extensive, would have been even more detailed.  But we had more to do -- and, besides, it was time for lunch.

Meal #6 - Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe:

While at the museum, we spotted posters for an exhibit of photographs of puffins, which are commonly seen in these islands.  We searched the whole museum, only to learn that, while the museum sponsored the exhibit, it was actually on display in the Marine Terminal, where we had disembarked from the ferry.  We had walked right past the puffin photos without noticing them!  We hurried back over to the ferry building to take a closer look:

By now, it was time to head back to the inn, relax and freshen up a bit, and prepare for dinner, tonight at Le Feu de Braise, another restaurant with classic French cuisine.  This time Kathy chose a lamb shank and David went all in with salmon.  While the food was excellent, we found the ambience noisy and busy, the waiters distracted, and the pace of service uneven.  So, while we thoroughly enjoyed this dinner, it wasn't as enjoyable as our dinner the prior evening.

Meal #7, done and dusted!

Again, our reservations for dinner were at 7:00 pm, and by the time we finished and returned to our inn, it was nearly bedtime.  We repaired to sleep and woke to have another excellent continental breakfast at the inn, composed of French pastry and coffee -- Meal #8.

Our ferry back to Fortune, Newfoundland, would not leave until noon, but we needed to show up for ticket validation and customs at about 10:30.  So, after the quick continental repast, we headed out on another beautiful, sunny walk around the harbor to our boulangerie/patisserie, where, at 8:30, we enjoyed Meal #9 -- a second breakfast!

We were disappointed that, on Sunday, this French shop did not offer anything savory, but only sweet pastries, so we satisfied ourselves with strawberry- and apple filled pastries, along with excellent cups of French coffee.  We also purchased croque croissants for lunch on the ferry, and a round loaf of bread for future meals back at our RV:

We rounded out the morning with a stroll back to the inn, thanked our host and checked out, and wandered over to the ferry terminal where -- when we checked in -- who checked us in but our innkeeper, doing double duty as an official at the ferry terminal!

Our ride back on the ferry was smooth under sunny skies with light winds, and we enjoyed watching the coastline of lower Burin Peninsula slide by as we approached the terminal in Fortune, eating our luscious lunch.  A short, 20 minute walk back and we were at our RV, greeting the kittens and wondering what new adventures will greet us in the next few days here on the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland.