2016 Road Trip: Saint Pierre et Miquelon
A whole slew of school kids were exiting the arriving ferry… things would be slow to get us underway. Scheduled departure from Fortune Newfoundland to Saint Pierre was 15:00. We actually set off at 15:30. Then there is a time difference - so close but still another 1/2 hour….
The crossing was choppy, foggy, and chilly. The arrival … the same! The Tourist Information Centre was closed but one of the Ferry staff spotted us and assisted in selecting an hotel for the evening. Our digs for the evening, Hotel Robert, was drab on the outside but had a great room for us to stay with a bathroom almost the size of our RV. From check in it was out to explore a bit of the town under overcast skies and slight drizzle. We then checked out the top two restaurants - they were both booked solid for the evening (the gal at Le Feu de Braise was welcoming and apologetic that she could not seat us, the guy at L’Atelier Gourmand was haughty and rude and could care less as he turned us away).
Next day dawned cold but the clouds were dissipating and the sun shining through. It started off chilly but warmed slightly as we trecked through most of the town, even up to the highest point (at 70 meters). Before setting out we did have that tradition of France - continental breakfast - at our hotel’s attached restaurant. Everything else was closed as it was Sunday so… nothing more to eat till boarding the ferry for the return trip at 13:30 (and a shared packet of nachos!).
Easy sunny crossing for the return. Then on to Marystown and parking in the Wal*Mart parking lot for the night!
Onwards up the Burin (barren) peninsula. Quite an amazing landscape that was mire reminiscent of tundra that anything else. A backbone of granite an boulders strewn over a landscape of moss, shore grass and shrubs, interspersed with bodies of water from brooks to shallow lakes predominated. It was actually a bit of a surprise when we encountered sections that were still forested!
Things greened as we entered the Avalon Peninsula. It seems that less logging was done there. Our target of the morning was Arnold’s Cove Bird Sanctuary - major disappointment! It turns out that the whole village and area is the sanctuary with no spot to have an abundance of birds. Perhaps at a certain time of year (unknown to us) birds may be in abundance but we saw only seagulls.
Onwards! To our campsite for the evening on the shores of a 2 kilometre beach at Bellevue. Rather open and very wind swept but also kinda neat. Best of all we had a fantastic wood fire cooked dinner of beef tenderloin with caramelized onions and mushrooms served with a fresh salad and balsamic vinegar dressing. Sometimes the home chefs can do no wrong!
