Photos

The islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon are located off the coast of Newfoundland in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They are a French Terriority and the closest you can get to France without crossing the Atlantic. I was fortunate enough to visit this wild and out-of-the-way place while living in Canada.

The islands are small, only one, the main island of St. Pierre is habitable. The weather is harsh, cold to very cold. The scenary is spectacular and the history is vast. In modern times the island was used by rum runners during the prohibition era of the 1920s. The Graf Zeppelin Hindenburg flew over the islands in the 1936 and 1938 during its brief career and General Charles de Galle visited the island several times during World War II.

What makes the island unique are the numerous shipwrecks and hulks found around the main island, attesting to hazards of the sea.

I found this scene of two wrecks of sort while hiking the main island. Shipwrecks dot the coastline.

I highly recommend a visit. I took a cargo ship from Halifax, Nova Scotia to the island. A trip memorable in itself thanks to storm which gave me a front seat to the powers of the Atlantic.