Authentically French

The Island of St. Pierre is about 10 kms long and has a population of about 5000, almost all of which are in the town of St. Pierre. The new ferry boat is modern and takes about 1.5 hours arriving from Fortune on the Burin Peninsula. Stepping onto French soil in the town of St. Pierre, the new terminal is beautiful and clean, the first stop was French Customs where they simply asked how long we planned to stay then stamped our passports.

The town of St. Pierre was a bustling place with moderate traffic, tourists were plentiful, and the streets pedestrian friendly. Many of the buildings are painted brightly, the shop owners were friendly, and the service authentically French.

The bakery had wonderful fresh bread, baguettes and croissants.

There were no supermarkets on the Island, but when we got inside the modest looking grocery stores, they had everything we wanted. The fruit and vegetables were quite fresh, the staple shelves well stocked, and the selection of French wines excellent.

Throughout town, we noticed, the distinct absence of Macdonalds, Tim Hortons, and other broadly branded places. The only major chains of note were Home Building and Rona Building suppliers.

In the absence of all the glitter big chains bring, the Mom and Pop shops and restaurants met our needs nicely. The restaurant meals were made with fresh food and pleasantly exceeded our expectations.


Walking the waterfront, we also noticed the century old warehouses that were no doubt filled with liquor in the rumrunning days. They were somewhat rundown, but with that black market trade long gone, it was to be expected.

The Island is a hiking and biking paradise. Unfortunately, we hadn't reserved bicycles before arriving, and with only one supplier, there were none available. However, we did a couple of day hikes giving us the exercise and scenery fixes we were looking for.

St. Pierre left us with a feel of an authentic French outport with a long history and roots leading to the sea.

Click here for the next story in this series - The Beauty and the Beasts