(Ville de St. Pierre, St. Pierre & Miquelon, France)
St. Pierre & Miquelon is a territory in transition. It has a strong maritime tradition but, subsequent to the cod fishing moratorium, it has looked for other sources of revenue. France is now promoting the islands as a tourist destination but its relative inaccessibility and the very short tourist season mean that private investment in tourism is still not that high. On the plus side, this means that there are few “tourist traps” and that most local businesses must also appeal to the island residents.
Our B&B was reasonably priced and dramatically situated but its almost-Himalayan altitude on the outskirts of town meant that, in order to avoid exhaustion, our trips downtown needed to be very well-planned. Our first trip was for dinner on the waterfront at a French restaurant called L’Atelier Gourmand; to avoid disappointment, we had made reservations online before leaving Pouch Cove. This turned out to be a masterstroke, as there were apparently only two restaurants open that evening.
We don’t often eat French food; I’m really not a fan of foods such as foie gras and the excess (for my taste) of garlic used in Provençal cooking. However, this dinner was a reminder that it is a mistake to overlook a country’s cuisine simply because some elements do not hold much appeal.
Our dinner at L’Atelier Gourmand was excellent. I was hoping to have L’émincé de volaille au citron vert et pommes (poultry with lime and apples) but there was none left. My second choice was Le filet de porc avec sauce balsamique et framboise (pork tenderloin with balsamic and raspberry sauce) and it turned out to be delicious. To accompany our meal, we had a bottle of dry apple cider from Normandy…it was also excellent.
For dessert, my choice was La mousse platebière dans sa coque (cloudberry mousse in an edible chocolate cup). Cloudberries (also known as bakeapples) are rather sweet orange berries found in remote northern locales such as Finland and Newfoundland. I find them a little too sweet on their own but they were great in a mousse. The rest of our posse was unanimous in praise of their respective selections too. In fact, we enjoyed our dinner so much that we made reservations for the following night at the same restaurant!
After dinner, I took advantage of the lingering daylight to “goat” on the steep rocky outcrops overlooking our B&B. The outcrops were just steep and high enough to give some inspiring views (see photo at the top of this post) over the town of St. Pierre.
After only a couple of hours in St. Pierre & Miquelon, it began to feel like we had escaped to the France of our imaginations…with houses and climate from Newfoundland! There was no Riviera, of course, but there were enough European touches to differentiate this tiny archipelago from the Canadian province that almost surrounds it.
The next day was a very special day for not just St. Pierre & Miquelon but for all of France. There was anticipation in the air and we were all looking forward to experiencing this special day as well. Stay tuned for the details!