This Tiny French Exclave Has its Own TRANSATLANTIC Airline! 

The history behind why these small islands off of Newfoundland are a part of France is very interesting: Saint Pierre and Miquelon is the last vestige of the once vast New France. In 1536 Jacques Cartier (whose ship the Grande Hermine is represented on St Pierre and Miquelon's coat of arms) claimed the islands as a French possession on behalf of the King of France, Francis I, but they weren't permanently settled until the end of the 17th century. The name Miquelon is of Basque origin as the island was used by fishermen from Saint-Jean de Luz. From the end of the 17th century, English attacks led to the island's French settlers abandoning Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the British took possession from 1713 to 1763. Under the terms of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which put an end to the Seven Years' War, France ceded all its North American possessions to the British, while the British granted fishing rights to French fishermen along the Newfoundland coast, and as part of that arrangement returned Saint-Pierre and Miquelon to France's control. France eventually reclaimed them, and French settlers returned to live peacefully for 15 years. France joining the American Revolutionary War against Britain led to a British attack and the deportation of the French settlers. Possession of Saint Pierre and Miquelon passed back and forth between France and Great Britain for the next 38 years, as the islands experienced continued invasions from both countries, voluntary or forced removal of the island's residents, and upheaval associated with the French Revolution. The 1814 Treaty of Paris gave the islands back to France, though the UK occupied them yet again during the Hundred Days War in 1815. France then reclaimed the now uninhabited islands France finally reclaimed the islands after Napoleon's second abdication in 1815. The islands were resettled in 1816 by mostly Basques, Bretons and Normans, and this is reflected on St Pierre and Miquelon's coat of arms with the flags of the three groups. Due to poor cod fishing seasons and residents angered at the French government for approving all teachers on the islands, they even tried joining the United States in 1903 (Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge advocated for it because of concerns of French influence, the effect of French fishing fleets on New England fisheries, and possible effects on Canada) so they could sell their fish without import taxes, but nothing came of the idea after a guy against the idea won reelection to the former French Chamber of Deputies by a small margin. Its economy boomed in the 1920s with the institution of Prohibition in the US from January 1920. In 1931, the archipelago was reported to have imported nearly 7 million liters of whisky from Canada in 12 months, most of it to be smuggled into the US.

Finaly a great review on this trip ! I think you’re the first one to publish this route ! Nice touch of the CEO of ASL ! Thank you Noel ! 😄 Greetings from France !

I believe the plane in the thumbnail is ASL's 737 quick change? I have seen this variant of the 737 in Bordeaux where the seats are taken out and the plane carries only cargo, then changes over again

Great video Noel. You'll have to come back and check out Newfoundland next time. There's so much to see and do in my home province and learn about Ganders' important story of their role in the 9/11 event.

Crazy that we have to go from Newfoundland to get to France. Just found this out late last year and my goal is to go there. Drivi g out east thjs August but unfortunately not able to make it to St pierrer

I little winded noel😂 they say Brit’s are not the healthiest, lots of smokers and pastries/scoones I’m told. Walking through terminals might not cut it

beautiful island! Great review but ill stick to a more mainstream way of getting to Europe Noel

You should have popped over to Goose Bay and visited the old RAF Avro Vulcan which got stuck there in 1981...

Fun Fact: If you address letters to St. Pierre & Miquelon to France they'll arrive there much faster than if you'd address them directly to St. Pierre & Miquelon. Like multiple weeks faster. Just see St. Pierre & Miquelon as an area or city of France and address it this way, ending in the Country of France...

I want to see Noel have a thank you duel with a canadian

Even though the man you are sitting next to’s face is blurred out , you can tell he is having a stare down with your camera , Noel 😂

I flew Air Saint-Pierre several years ago from St. John's to Saint-Pierre. Was a lovely flight! I had to laugh at all the French passengers who had boxes of Tim Hortons donuts they were bringing back. Meanwhile, I was loading up on their much superior French pastries. 😆

The person sitting next to you in that air plane must have been in the witness protection program, lol.

Noel, I am drunk again. I've taken a drink every time you've said St Pierre and Miquelon

Some of the most famous folk songs in Argentina were written by a San Pierre et Miquelon musician woman, that signed her compositions with a male artistic name Pablo del Cerro. She was Nenette Pepin and was wife of the greatest Argentine folk musician Atahualpa Yupanki.

Fancy to have the CEO and some champagne on a good-looking but relatively basic airplane!

Love the ASL director on the flight making a speech and offering champagne. Nice touch.

Fascinating! The locals even sound like proper French. I was expecting a Québécois accent, but I didn't hear it.

Hey Noel! I'm from St-Pierre 👋😊 Been following you for several years so that video is crazy to me! Noel Philips does fly everywhere all over the world 🙌 Cheers !

Fun fact about St Pierre & Miquelon is you'd think they would have the same time zone as Newfoundland, but they don't! Newfoundland is known for its own quirky 30-minute time zone (UTC−03:30; the only active time zone with a half-hour offset from UTC in the Americas), but Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is something else entirely. They too have their own time zone, this one being 30 minutes ahead of Newfoundland time. So at noon in Newfoundland, it’s 12:30 PM in Saint-Pierre, 11:30 AM. in Halifax, and 10:30 AM in Toronto. This unique time zone provides has an interesting quirk, since you have to travel west by ferry from Fortune to reach St. Pierre, it’s one of the few time zones on earth that will force you to set your watch ahead as you travel west. Another quirky part of France is Wallis & Futuna in the South Pacific, which is quite hard to get to as Aircalin, the flag carrier of New Caledonia, is the only international airline that flies there, flying from Nadi in Fiji and Nouméa in New Caledonia to Hihifo Airport on Wallis. The islands had a population of just 11,151 at the July 2023 census. The territory is made up of three main volcanic tropical islands and a number of tiny islets. It is divided into two island groups that lie about 260 km apart, the Wallis Islands (also known as Uvea) in the northeast, and the Hoorn Islands (also known as the Futuna Islands) in the southwest, including Futuna Island proper and Alofi Island. Wallis & Futuna stands out in that while it is an overseas collectivity of France, it is made up of three chiefdoms each with their own monarchs, the chiefdoms of Wallis, Alo, and Sigave! So France, the country famous for toppling its monarchy in a revolution...still has monarchs! Of course that's not mentioning the fact that the President of France is a Co-Prince of Andorra! During Tongan invasions in the 15th and 16th centuries, the islands defended themselves with varying levels of resistance, but also accepted varying degrees of assimilation. Futuna retained more of its pre-Tongan cultural features, while Wallis underwent greater fundamental changes in its society, language, and culture. The original inhabitants built forts and other identifiable structures on the islands (many of which are in ruins), some of which are still partially intact. Futuna was first put on European maps by Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire, during their circumnavigation of the globe, in 1616. They named the islands of Futuna "Hoornse Eylanden", after the Dutch town of Hoorn where they hailed from. The Wallis Islands were named after the British explorer Samuel Wallis, who sailed past in 1767, after being the first European to visit Tahiti. The French were the first Europeans to settle in the territory, with the arrival of French missionaries in 1837. In April 1842, the missionaries asked for the protection of France, after the uprising of part of the local population. In April 1887, the queen of Uvea signed a treaty, officially establishing a French protectorate. The kings of Sigave and Alo also signed a treaty establishing a French protectorate in February 1888. From that moment, the islands were officially under the authority of the French colony of New Caledonia. In 1917, the three traditional kingdoms of Uvea, Sigave, and Alo were annexed by France, integrated into the colony of Wallis and Futuna, and remained under the authority of the colony of New Caledonia. In 1959, the inhabitants of the islands voted to become a separate French overseas territory, effective since July 1961. Since March 2003, Wallis and Futuna has been an overseas collectivity.

28:08 random fun fact: "mainland" France, that is european France, is generally referred to as Metropolitan France or sometimes La Métropole this includes the Island of Corsica, regions outside of Europe are referred to as Overseas France.

Trivia time: the airport in St-Pierre was built by a Canadian company from Québec. One of my wife's uncles worked on that project and sadly passed away in St-Pierre while working on that project. Additional fun fact: there is a ferry from Newfoundland to Saint-Pierre, which means you can technically drive from Canada to France or from France to Canada. A friend made the trip a couple of years ago and last week I saw a Chevrolet Blazer plated in Saint-Pierre in Montréal.

I truly appreciate how the French maintain their guile no matter where you may be in the world. I know they get alot of backhanded jabs but they are an astonishing bunch in so many ways. I love the French. Thanks again for a great adventure, Noel.

Ooh - Tim Horton's the great Canadian go-to for coffee and breakfast (their cheese scone/muffin things are something else). Good news is we have Tim's in Manchester now, so I can pop in and pretend I'm in Canada (🤣). Great film - Saint Pierre & Miquelon looks like a fascinating place. Love that you braved the bike. Cheers.

This is great. Two trips in one video! Love that. That little adventure to the Airbb was fascinating but at least you had a bike to get around the island! The things you do on your adventures. LOL!

Interesting video although the island is off the east coast of Canada not in northern Canada. Northern Canada would be the Arctic. :)

So, San Pierre is one of the few places in the world where the time is only +/- 30 minutes instead of the full hour like typical time zones are!

When I win the lottery I shall move to St Pierre and Miquelon. And insist on only speaking Welsh.

I'm french and I can't count how many times Monsieur Noel roasted us 💀💀💀😂

British Pub , in Halifax Airport 🤔👏🏻; it is never to early for a British Pub🤔🤷‍♂️😂😂; airports & golf ⛳️ courses share the exemption of the taboo of morning drinking 😂😂👏🏻

Noel: I really enjoyed the tiny little island and the french accordeon music that came along with it.

Heyy Noel, great video, I'm pleased about your video, being a native from St Pierre , people around the world gets to see my home island. Keep up your video's

Some years ago, we flew on ASL Airlines from Halifax *direct* & *non-stop* to Dublin. It was a very nice flight.

Thanks for sharing with us this unusual flight to a very remote French territory. Being French myself, even for us it is really a remote place we don't really know much about.

Pro tip: ditch the extremely tired beret/baguette/onions cliché

Huh, reminds me of any island off the coast of Maine, where I live: no restaurants, no hotels, narrow roads which aren’t friendly to bikers/pedestrians…

I live in Atlantic Canada, so I fly out of Halifax quite often and I think it's a very pretty airport with a very pretty view during takeoff☺️

The only time I use Airbnb is if it's SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than a hotel. I agree Noel that hotels are just much better. You get more services for your money. HYPER U! Spent a lot of money there when I was in Tahiti, it's basically French Walmart.

Wow, I’m from Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick) but been in Halifax for a couple years now and was watching many of your videos just a few days ago, and now you come to visit the very streets I walk each day?! Of course I happened to be in Calgary while you just so happened to visit Halifax. I even recognized the guys at the Hollis hotel.

I feel like I'm one of very few that understood that Airplane! fish reference

As someone from Newfoundland that has travelled to Saint Pierre by ferry, I’ve always wanted to go on the plane there!! Awesome video! You should come back soon and travel to Nain, Labrador on a Twin Otter! Cool small flights up North, would be a very cool experience and video to watch!

Thanks for the currency conversion to Djibouti Francs at the end, would have had no clue what that price in US Dollars meant otherwise! 😂 Great video as always from you Noel, SPM looks like a smashing place to visit!

St. Pierre and Miquelon have an interesting history. They were retained by France after the British took over the their North American colonies. They later became a port base for French fishing ships working in the region's waters. During the American (and Canadian) alcohol Prohibition period, it reached its economic peak as became a key place to smuggle alcohol into the US and Canada from Europe. The mix of vehicles is interesting of European French brand and made models and 'imported' North American brands and models.

St. Pierre et Miquelon is another one of those places I've wanted to visit. Great stuff!

Haven't lived in Canada in years. I had a good laugh when I heard the guy speak at 3:47. He's very much the Canadian stereotype.

10:16 You haven't been stamped in to the EU at all as St-Pierre-&-Miquelon is NOT part of the EU and definitely not in the Schengen area. 🤣

I hate AirBnB. I go on vacation to relax, not to do a list of chores and pay a ridiculous cleaning fee. Plus they didn’t even have bottled water in the fridge for guests?

Noel, Can you please turn up the volume up a bit more....kind of hard to hear you at times. Had to hook up my tablet to speaker set to enjoy the entire video 😀. Great video otherwise, as Always. Safe travels 😘. PS You've DEFINITELY gotten in All your Steps for the next month 😅. I was sweating 🥵 just watching you 😂😂😂.

BTW Newfoundland is not considered "Northern Canada". On catering: there are rules on how long food can be kept between preparation and serving. A hot meal would be easier because it can be kept frozen on the way to St-Pierre and thawed only before flight departure. But the meal tray you showed had fresh food and doubtful it could have been prepared on Monday in France and flowns to St-Pierre and served on Tuesday afternoon. Surprised there were no croissants. Though Amtrak does that for its trains to Canada. They are fully catered out of New York for the day to Canada and the return back to New York the next day. (but not refulated like for airlines and that isnt the food served to the engineers).

Yea, this little french string of isles South of Newfoundland and Labrador while north or Cape Breton Island, is causeing some lobster war style problems at the moment, they are aloud a small chunk of halibut catch, and this yea that are taking 4 time the amount they are aloud, this is gonna make things very tense with the Atlantic provinces and France

Enjoy seeing these remote locations with a little bit of the town.

Looking at your champagne plastic glass on your tray the turbulence was not so bad. Still some British style in your comments 😂

This part of "France" is definitely has been on my bucket list! Thanks for sharing. Safe travels!

That place is a must see in North America ! You literally fly to Europe within 1h30 ! People are extremely nice overthere Allez visiter SPM 😊

EPIC Video Noel! I Really Enjoyed This One and I can’t wait to try this someday! French Canada 🇨🇦 is INCREDIBLE very beautiful and I can’t wait to visit it someday when I’m better at me French that is! 😂 Cheers 🥂 mate! St. Pierre looks really cool I’ll have to add it to my bucket list! Hope to see you at Oshkosh 2024 in a few weeks. 😊 -Caleb’s Aviation

Noel, St. Pierre is scenically pretty but it looks like a place that there's nothing going on… Would it be worth Americans to go visit? It seems like a very out-of-the-way difficult place to reach for not a lot of bang for your buck… What would be the difference between that and Nova Scotia or Maine? Love you much and thank you for doing these videos !

Whilst I understand that you channel is about flight, I simply don't understand this video. For context, I live in Canada, am an immigrant from your neck of the woods and only recently found out about the French islands off our very shores. Understandably, it's fascinating. Someplace special that only a Handful of Canadians or others have ever seen. And yet you seemingly hop a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, a very pretty part of the world, pay little attention to and then proceed to travel to one of the most unique places in North America, say virtually nothing about it and head back to France....because there's a flight available half dozen times a year? What a wasted opportunity.

0:00 At start, "...in *northern* Canada..." Not even close. Not even remotely close to "northern" Canada. 🙂

My grandfather used to fish off the Grand Banks 40ish years ago and they would take trips into St Pierre and bring home cheap rum to Newfoundland. Very unique place! It feels like a Newfoundland island like Bell Island or Fogo Island but with French speakers and more cool cars

Noel , you should have gone into the town centrum ....lots to see and a big danse bar called "Joinville"...good restaurants . During American prohibition in 30s , Al Capone and associates did business in SPM , his hat is still displayed at Hotel Robert . That supermarket was called Marcel Dagort in early 2000s ..far .better pastries than Tims Hortons all over St Pierre ..cheers .

219 comments, and no Grammar Nazi? Please fix the title, it's bothering me.

Great video! I had no idea that transatlantic flight existed... and it's not such a crazy price. It's hard to navigate to book it on a complicated website that looks like it's trying to make it a secret.

I was not aware that a sliver of France itself was a 'thing' here in N. American territory.

My stepmother almost acceptedto be a judge there, but they chose to be reasonable in the end and not separate me and my sister from my father for literally years as we would had obviously stayed in mainland France with my mother in the meantime.

I m french and didn t even knew the existence of this flight until your video... 😅

Of course prices are in Euro!! Do you pay with the chinese currency in Canada?

Tarom restarted their BUCHAREST - New York flight ! worth a try !

you got the champs and nice announcement cause they knew you was all in for abit of a bumpy ride lol

You went all the way to St. Pierre and didn't eat at the bistros or do anything in the town?

I've never been to Halifax area nor St. Pierre & Miquelon. Closest there for me is New Brunswick from Canada and Maine from the States. Thanks for showing us the area. Cheers

What an astonishing exclaves often overlooked by tourists because of its rotten accessibility! It is always great to try out a wacky airline like this.

NO WAY I'VE ALWAYS BEEN WANTING TO GO WITH ASL AIRLINES!!! ❤😮

a PERFECT 30 min video with my morning coffee ☕️😊

I met some Frenchies from St Pierre in Kyoto of all places. Bon Chance, Noel!

Fabulous, a place I had never heard of or knew anything about. This is exactly why I love RU-vid so much..

Hecklefish Fans Unite! I knew I liked you for a reason! 😅😅😅

I am really glad you put the price in Djibouti francs, it is the only currency I understand! 😂

If it's Sunday, it's Noel Philips time! I love watching your adventures around this beautiful world - so much to see and do.

Glad to see you ended up taking this flight - I remember asking you a few months ago if it was on your radar :)

Noel, Its too bad only one day. The olympic games are in France at the end of this month.

Great vlog as always! FSP looks like Norway, houses and all! Keep up the good work. Be safe!

St. Pierre et Miquelon is subject of a nasty trick question when it does come to the number of nations on the North American continent. Most folks will answer 3, Canada, the USA and Mexico, however, these islands are bringing France into the equation, the only place where Euros are legal currency on the western side of the Atlantic and anyone disputing France's presence will be struck again when having to face Clipperton Island in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico. It is uninhabited, although, by being French Territory giving that nation a say in that location when it does come to mining and fishing.

Really enjoyed this video. What a beautiful island. Also totally agree Halifax is beautiful like most of Canada

The 10:25 mark features claims by Noel of no Uber or traditional taxi upon departure from St-Pierre’s main airport. That’s a bit of a concern for arrival although I wonder if there are taxis that can be pre-ordered. I do however look forward to watching the rest of the video of his though.

Just when we think you’ve hit all the « weird routes », you surprise us once again! Merci!!

It’s so interesting to see these small airports. I haven’t been to Canada myself, hope I can visit these places someday.

Wow. Such an interesting vid Noel! The world is a fascinating place. Enjoyed it immensely! As ever, thank u for the ride!

"I've got to get my Uber" Garbage truck rolls up. 🤭

20:05 runway 1920 meters or 6300 ft long. Restriction is only for pax not for kérosène or fuel!!! Maximum 100 pax and for lugagge 8kg in cabin and 20 or 23 in cargo bay: hold In case of in-flight médical issue i dont know procédure for diversion ???

Love the unusual airline and video as always Noel. Especially enjoy the random currencies for the cost of the flight too!

A transatlantic domestic flight.

They lit the dump on fire to guide your plane in?

Thanks a lot sir,I have never heard of that beautiful place before

You did this flight. I always wondered who would be the first RU-vidr to review this flight. Noel Phillips or Josh Cahil.. On my bucket list.

Thanks for this video. St. Piere and Miquelon has always fascinated me. We live in Alberta, Canada and do intend to go to Newfoundland and take the ferry across to the islands. This os actually the first video i have ever seen about the isands.

Love the longer vids like this!! And Noel, you put in quite the exercise on this trip too, I don't think I've ever seen you breathing so hard 😂 ❤👏

There are not 2 but 7 hotels on Saint Pierre: 1. Auberge Quatre Temps 2. Auberge Saint Pierre 3. Chez Marie Jo 4. Dodeman B&B 5. Nuits SP 6. Les Terrasses du Port 7. Hotel Robert And there are quite a few fantastic restaurants just like anywhere in mainland France. 8 to be precise: 1. Bar a quai 2. Le Buddy 3. Chez Alain 4. Le Feu de Braise 5. L’Île de France 6. Ilot 7. P’tits graviers 8. Select And they’re in the cutest little town of 5,000 he didn’t even visit ((( It’s a real shame Noel doesn’t stay at least a full day in these wonderful unique places. I love the videos for what they are but I don’t understand why he rushes and misses soooooo much along the way especially this little gem of a place.

I am fascinated by this exclave of 🇫🇷!

I couldn’t make out what you said about the EU, but St Pierre and Miquelon aren’t in the EU. France’s five overseas regions (French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Mayotte, and Reunion) are in the EU. The overseas collectivities are not in the EU, except for Saint Martin, which is in the EU.

When l was there over 36 years ago The St Pierre Hotel had a collection of Al Capone memorabilia cuff links straw boaters and that ort of thing.He ran a fair amount of contraband out of the Archipelago.The RCMP run a fast patrol in Canadian waters on the look out for smugglers from Newfoundland.