Locals kiss their hellos and pay in euros, while sweet smells waft from the myriad pastry shops, and French cars crowd the tiny one-way streets. It's a world away from Newfoundland.
St-Pierre is the more populated and developed island, with most of its 5500 residents living in the town of St-Pierre. Miquelon is larger geographically but has only 600 residents overall.
Jacques Cartier claimed the islands for France in 1536, after they were discovered by the Portuguese in 1520. At the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, the islands were turned over to Britain, only to be given back to France in 1816. And French they've remained ever since.