is capable of receiving flights from Metropolitan France, no such flights currently exist. Instead flights into Saint Pierre are operated by Air Saint Pierre which operates both year-round and seasonal routes from various cities in Canada as well as commuter flights to Miquelon. The flights from Saint Pierre to Miquelon are among the shortest commercial flights in the world. There is also a ferry service from the Newfoundland town of Fortune on a seasonal basis from mid-April to November. At other times, because of ice in the harbor, the only connections are via air. The ferry is passenger only; no cars allowed.
The official flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, as is true of all of Overseas France,
is the French Tricolour.
However, there is a local and unofficial flag that is seen in use and that is the flag we were flying today.
The unofficial flag was designed in 1982, likely by a local business owner, André Paturel. The flag is based on the Collectivity’s coat of arms. The flag is blue with a yellow ship, said to be Grande Hermine, which brought Jacques Cartier to Saint-Pierre on 15 June 1536. Three square fields placed along the hoist recall the origin of most inhabitants of the islands, from top to bottom, Basques, Bretons, and Normans.
We have one more very obscure component of Overseas France to cover before we are done and this one takes us back to the south Pacific Ocean to two very far flung specks of land which without French support and direct assistance would likely have a very different level of lifestyle. Stay tuned for our next, and final, installment of Overseas France.