Off to France

50 miles from Canada to France. A boring motor boat trip when there is no wind. Unfortunately we did not see any wildlife. Our destination was Miquelon to check in to the country.

 A small tight harbour, so we pulled into the first available slip. We could move later if necessary. Unfortunately the customs office was closed and we were unable to make our phones work for data. To check in by phone we had to be able to read a QR code. We were finally able to reach a real person in St. Peter who took us through the process verbally. While doing all this, Alan was spotted by friends we had met earlier in the summer. They were in St. Pierre and had visited Miquelon by ferry. Meeting up sounded like fun so we headed to St. Pierre the next day. 

I’m spite of a windless forecast we ended up motoring straight into 15 knot winds by the end of the 20 mile trip.  Fortunately, the harbour is well protected and the wind died upon entrance. We picked up a mooring with the help of our friends and relaxed. St Pierre has an interesting method of charging cruisers. The moorings and the dock space are both free. If you want to access services like power, water, laundry, showers etc there is a daily fee. 30 euros a day at the dock and 15 euros for moorings.

One of Alan’s favourite jobs was to get up early and head to a local bakery. I never knew what amazing pastries he would come home with. 

It was fun to get on the bikes and explore the island.

St. Pierre has a stable population of about 6,000 people. Most of these either work for the government or in the tourist trade. In spite of the lack of growth, we found quite a lot of new homes being built.

The local grocery store - Super U - is part of a French chain. Just like shopping in France with all of the French brands and store brands from overseas. The first time we were there we were escorted out. We didn’t realize that they closed everyday from 12 to 2. 

One of my favourite goodies from the bakery were the variety of quiches. On our last day Alan brought back 4 individual ones. They became our passage food for the next two days.

After much discussion, we decided that St. Perre was as far east as we wanted to go this summer. It was time to head back.