Saint Pierre and MiquelonMapMay 11–12, 2013 Nearly one third of North America—from Quebec to Louisiana—once belonged to France. Today, all that’s left of these imperial possessions are two microscopic islands somewhere in the armpit of Newfoundland: Saint Pierre and Miquelon. It’s always foggy, rainy, and cold here.  The streets are empty.  And deserted.  Some parts resemble Iceland.  Some—the Faroes.  Some—the Isle of Man.  The place has a Nordic feel.  The wooden trash crates outside every house are the country’s main detail. Most of them are octagonal chests with a special stop at the top to prevent the lid from snapping off.  Some people paint their chest the color of their house.  And some go all out and make it look extra-pretty.  A trash can.  An ashtray at the airport.  Every house has its own oil boiler for heating.  A pillar with telephone equipment housed inside.  A fire hydrant.  A phone booth.  Slots for mail in the wall of a post office.  A license plate.  Street name plaques.  Basements have glass block windows with a decorative solidified bubble pattern inside the glass.  On the rare days when it’s not raining out, everyone dries their laundry on clotheslines. One end of the line is secured to the house and the other to a pole with a pulley on it.  The country is so small that the owner of the best hotel drives out to the airport personally to pick up arriving guests. It takes exactly three minutes to get to the city. You can take a walk, have dinner, spend the night—and then be back at the airport in three minutes.  |
