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Blog # 4 - Newfoundland, Canada, France and Back to Canada

No, we did not sail from Canada to France and back to France! Yes, St. Pierre was one of our stops - it's a French (North American) territory

Everyone speaks French, the Euro is used and all signage is in French - an unexpected and odd phenomenon

This is the same grocery store chain where we purchased food when visiting our son and his family in Southern France

Island Flags

Many island homes are painted with vibrant colors as well as having interesting architectural designs. The "colors" used to correspond to a person's occupation, a fisherman's boat colors and/or to cheer up a family during the cold, brutal months

We were lucky to see anything. Thick fog covered the area during the last several days.

We took this photo on the cabin's veranda looking out at the beautiful countryside and picturesque homes - Ha! Ha!

Here's a nice photo of the elevator - no fog inside it

Other than small fishing villages, there is very little here to offer residents. Yet, there is an international airport. Planes fly to France and Canada. Residents get a 40% subsidy and other incentives to remain. Children go to college in France or Canada.

There are many nice looking homes

However, the overall area is quite desolate

Inclement weather is the norm

Typical highway immediately outside village areas

Interesting approach to burying the dead. There could be multiple layers of deceased on top of each other. There might be nine family members buried under one tombstone.

Vive la France

Back to Newfoundland: The fog lifted for about ten minutes. We just happened to look out from our cabin and saw this site.

Plenty of lighthouses located throughout the islands. Many shipwrecks during the last three hundred years

Captain Cook memorial. He landed here before he went off to Tahiti and other Polynesian islands - ultimately being killed and eaten by the locals.

Plenty of rocky coastlines - no beaches

Windy and damp

Ship celebrates Canada Day

Local areas have unique products

For four days in a row, we kept going back and forth between different time zones with half-hour time increments. The I-phones, tablets and laptop could not keep up with the time changes. We, like other passengers were confused. We often arrived late for a lecture or other events, Oh well...