Fortress Louisbourg

I've been dashing off a few notes about this long-awaited trip to the Canadian Maritimes without much thought about organization or writing.  Reading the last few posts about this trip proves that dashing is not good!  From here on, I promise myself to take a little more time with the notes and photos.  Now that we're back home, I'm working from my hand-written notes.

Cape Breton Islands.  I know, it's proper name is Cape Breton Island, but if you look at the map, it's really several islands.  Bras d'Or Lake is really several lakes.  I was reminded of the Seattle area:  no matter which direction you head, you're gonna run into water!  Before we went to CBI, someone told us that pace there is much slower.  And, it is.  Part of the reason is there is so much beautiful scenery to look at.  Forests, lakes, rocky bluffs and wildflowers covering a good portion of dirt that is not farmland.  Another reason is the roads are in awful condition, because of the freezing weather.  We parked the Cottage at MacLeod's, which made the driving a little easier. 

There are art galleries and craft shops everywhere, little secret places in someone's house or barn.  Farms of hay, and some cattle.  But, mostly the income here is from fishing and tourism.  Tourism businesses must make it in about 2.5 months, making the summer months pretty intense for seasonal workers and businesses.  High Season begins the last half of July!  "If summer falls on a weekend, let's have a picnic!" is the rule. 

One day, we drove west to east, and found a 5-minute ferry across a sandspit.   The Englishtown Ferry.

NS is rightfully very proud of Fortress Louisbourg, on the far eastern edge of CBI.  The French built it, and for about 50 years operated a busy port shipping fish and wood from here.  The English won, however, and the fortress was finally abandoned in 1768.  I guess if things had gone differently, I'd be speaking French!  It was a troublesome time for the New England/Martimes area.  The fortress was a huge, make-work project, sort of like the CCC projects in the US during the Great Depression.  Here, the coal mines had been the major employer, and when they were closed in the late 1960's, the government dreamed up the idea of restoring part of the Fortress, and creating jobs by doing so.  Teams of archeologists and scientists of all kinds spent several years digging, learning and researching.  The miners were re-trained in blacksmithing, log-building and all the peripheral jobs required in this huge project.  Everything about the Fortress is authentic to the period, right down to the hand-made nails and door hinges.  Costumed historians live the personality of various people who would have lived there, and it was presented with great planning and execution.  We bought a small loaf of bread, baked that morning in the wood-fired ovens in the same way it would have been baked for the soldiers living there in 1750. We watched a group of soldiers fire their authentic reproduction weapons.  One soldier tried three times before his fired.  I think we talked to every interpreter there, and they all had great stories to tell.  I learned more about the history of the New World than I ever learned in grade-school!  We watched a demonstration of High Class dancing...the rich folks doing what would become what we call square dancing..  The harpsichord was beautiful, and I was allowed to touch the keys. An entire day was not enough, but when we got on the bus back to the parking lot, discovered how tired we were from a day of watching history.

Roof-tops, built with hand-made cedar shakes, hand-cut lumber, hand-made windows.

Young soldiers, "piping in" the artillery regiment...

The artillery regiment.  I noticed they were all wearing ear protection!  The only modern accessory I saw all day.

This maid and her daughter graciously allowed me to take their photo.  We are surely in a French fortress!  The little girl didn't speak english.  English was the second language for the mother.
Even their shoes were hand-made, in 1750's style.

I found the ice-house interesting.  Yes, ICE in 1750!  Inside this cone-shaped building is a deep well, lined with stones.  The Governor of Louisbourg did not allow the door to be opened until after dark in the summer, to keep the cool air inside.

The Engineer for the settlement lived in the second largest house, after the Governor, of course.  He was also the second more important person.  In his study, we saw plans on the table for the hospital, which has not been reconstructed.  But, we know from detailed records it had 100 beds, room for the nuns and nurses, and a big kitchen.  The Engineer's garden was pretty, and being a well-to-do man, didn't have to be completely devoted to food production. All those purple flowers are chives.

It was a great day.  Afterwards, we drove around to the opposite side of the cove, to see the lighthouses, and look for lobsters.  But, that's another story!