Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ST-PIERRE & MIQUELON
POP 6100
Twenty-five kilometers offshore from the Burin Peninsula floats a little piece of France.
The islands of St-Pierre and Miquelon aren't just Frenchlike with their berets, baguettes
and Bordeaux, they are France, governed and financed by the tricolore .
Locals kiss their hellos and pay in euros, while sweet smells waft from the myriad
pastry shops. French cars - Peugeots, Renaults and Citroëns - crowd the tiny one-way
streets. It's an eye-rubbing world away from Newfoundland's nearby fishing communities.
St-Pierre is the more populated and developed island, with most residents of its 5500
living in the town of St-Pierre. Miquelon is larger geographically but has only 600 resid-
ents overall.
The fog-mantled archipelago has a 20th-century history as colorful as its canary-yellow,
lime and lavender houses. Going further back, Jacques Cartier claimed the islands for
France in 1536, after they were discovered by the Portuguese in 1520. At the end of the
Seven Years' War in 1763, the islands were turned over to Britain, only to be given back
to France in 1816. And French they've remained ever since.
ST-PIERRE'S BOOZY BACKSTORY
When Prohibition dried out the USA's kegs in the 1920s, Al Capone decided to slake
his thirst - and that of the nation - by setting up shop in St-Pierre.
He and his mates transformed the sleepy fishing harbor into a booming port
crowded with imported-booze-filled warehouses. Bottles were removed from their
crates, placed in smaller carrying sacks and taken secretly to the US coast by rum-
runners. The piles of Cutty Sark whiskey crates were so high on the docks that clev-
er locals used the wood both to build and heat houses. At least one house remains
today and is known as the 'Cutty Sark cottage'; most bus tours drive by.
The visitors center offers a special Prohibition tour ( per person $25 ) that covers
sites related to the theme. If nothing else, drop by the Hotel Robert near the tourist
information center and check out Al Capone's hat; it hangs in the gift shop.
Sights & Activities
In St-Pierre, the best thing to do is just walk around and soak it up - when you're not eat-
ing, that is. Pop into stores and sample goods you'd usually have to cross an ocean for. Or
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