Tuesday, 28 August 2012

st. pierre, france, part 2: camping challenges

i need to mention the more challenging aspects of a trip to the small island of st. pierre and michelon, france. yesterday's post was all about the cool things. 

(very windy on the top deck of the ferry from fortune to st. pierre) 

(the bikes on the way to france) 

(enjoying some beer and chips on the ferry) 

(our tent setup on st. pierre...it looks private, but it is not) 

(strolling around st. pierre) 

(a cool old building in france)

of note:
-the hours of operation of all the businesses seem like suggestions. the restaurants are only open for maybe 6 hours a day total (a few hours per meal). and weekends have even more reduced hours. if we go again, we will make reservations for all meals.
-this island is seriously tiny. which is cool. we loved fogo island. but here, there seems to be even less to do. i am not a shopper, but there did seem to be a handful of gift shops, if that's what you're into.
-camping on st. pierre: we decided to camp because we love camping, and i had read that camping is good here. there are only a few hotels anyway, and none of them really excited me. there are no real campgrounds here, so the information bureau directed us to a few spots on a map. well, these spots were really just patches of grass. there are very few trees on the island, and much of the island is really rocky, so basically there is nowhere to camp. we ended up camping on a pretty little beach at the tip of the island. it was a really lovely spot, but you actually have to pitch your tent 5 feet from where people are walking and hanging out. maybe some people would be cool with this, but i was soo not. we talked to some fellow campers the next morning, and they had hiked to the top of a mountain to pitch their tents. they ended up with a more secluded spot, but super windy. not ideal. bottom line: unless you are cool with camping in a public park with no trees, you should definitely book a room on st. pierre.

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