Miquelon

Local History

The approach to the tiny man made harbor in Miquelon  requires careful navigation to avoid the extensive aquaculture operations in the surrounding bay. Miquelon, along with the island of of St Pierre, are a small bit of France just off of Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula. Miquelon is the larger of the two islands, but it has a small population and has a rural agriculutral/ fishing lifestyle. The island  used to be two separate island with a sandbar joining Langlade to Miquelon. Over the last couple hundred of years the sandbar built up joining the islands with dry land. This was reputedly aided by the vast number of wrecked ship that tried to cut between the islands.There is a

Local history part two

visitors center with a small museum next door. Wifi and a bilingual staff were very helpful here. there are two grocery stores and a gas station with diesel within a short walk of the harbor . There is a local bank here that can exchange dollars to euros but there is a $13 service charge. The French culture is very different form Canada, with the mid day meal being the main one. Everything except the restaurants is closed from 1200 to 1330 or 1400. The food is great here and groceries are less expensive than Canada even though a lot of it comes from France. There is also good selection of wine and cheeses  in all the stores.
A short walk from the harbor is a bakery with

Nomad in the very small harbor

 fresh bread and croissants. I hiked up to the top of Cap Miquelon to check out the views of the island, which is geologically very different from Newfoundland. It was very "civilized" hiking after being out in the wilderness of Newfoundland. Maintained trails, signs, and even boardwalks over the bogs made it a very pleasant afternoon. I stayed here several days enjoying the small town ambiance and meeting the few local sailboat people, one of whom I met again in St Pierre.

The center of town

Hiking on Cap Miquelon

Suburban Miquelon