Today we slept in. Can you imagine, not only was the campsite a glorified, pebble parking lot, but they had a wedding in a tent outside last night in the drizzle and fog. The thumping of the drum went till way after11 PM but we finally slept.
We awoke to more drizzle and fog, a reminder of what life must have been like for the early French who settled here and then built the largest fortress on the east coast.
The story of Louisbourg begins in Newfoundland and is based on Europe’s fiendish passion for salted cod in the 17th century. Every spring, huge fishing fleets from Europe would sail to the Grand Banks off Newfoundland to fish from the plentiful waters, since European waters had been overfished. Sometimes the fish were taken to land, salted and dried and other times using the “green method” the fish would be put in salted stacks right on the ship. Because the dried, white product lasted so long, it was highly valued in Catholic Spain, Portugal and Southern France. The Church, of course, in those days, demanded lots of days of sacrifice when the good Catholic could only eat fish and veggies.
By the 18th century, France and England had started a series of wars that would have profound effects on their colonial empires. With the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, France gave up all her property in southern Newfoundland and Acadia and retained only the islands of Ile St. Jean (PEI) and Ile Royale (Cape Breton).
Soon the plentiful fish off of Ile Royale were attracting French from Newfoundland and France as the cod trade proceeded to eclipse the profitability of the fur trade from Central Canada. Louisbourg was the trading capital of the area because of its location on the Atlantic, and in 1720 it became the capital of Ile Royale and Ile St Jean. The fort was established to protect the cod trade and also kept watch over the settlers heading down the St Lawrence River and prevented enemy fleets from using the river. New Englanders, alarmed by the possibility of French aggression so close to home and anxious to have the fishing all to themselves, sent colonists from NH, Conn, RI, NY,PA and NJ to join the Royal Navy in attacking Louisbourg in 1745. This was called the “Campaign of Amatuers” because the troops were primarily local militia. The French didn’t have a chance because they had placed their cannons all facing the ocean and the back of the fort was protected by ramparts of plaster that weren’t very high or strong. The British navy let the colonists off the ships at a nearby bay and land fighters that they were, they were able to defeat the garrison. They sent the French back to France, only to lose 1200 people of their own that first winter because of disease and harsh weather. By 1748 Louisbourg was back in French hands as a result of another French victory over Britain and the garrison and town once again grew into a thriving port with 3500 soldiers in 1758. War with Britain began again and in 1758 the British sailed from their newest port of Halifax and again attacked and defeated the French at Louisbourg, essentially using the same tactics used many years before. The French were finally sent packing from Louisbourg for the last time. In order to ensure they did not return, the British blew up all of the town and fort and it remained in ruins until the 1960s, when the Canadians decide to resurrect the fort for the sake of history.
Click the arrow below to watch pictures
Dick says this is boring
Anyway, today we went to see the reconstructed Fort Louisbourg, which the Canadian Gov’t put millions of dollars into and kicked people off the sight where they had been living in the 1960s. It really is a most interesting place and they have recreated some 65 areas from a dovecote to the Financial Administrator’s house (beautiful as you can imagine). Several people are costumed and play roles as people living there and they are very good at staying in character. The buildings are really quite nice and built with the same materials and in the same manner. It is not as commercial as Williamsburg and also not as cute. But then this was mainly a military garrison and sat on the North Atlantic. Today the temp at mid-day was 65 and it drizzled and was foggy all day and this is the end of July. I know, you all are suffering in the heat. Dick and I are wondering if we should be looking at land up here to buy as a refuge from the coming heat induced famine that may engulf us all. (a local house with 2 acres was advertised for $ Canadian 93,000.00 )
We had lunch at a lovely candle lit restaurant with a traditional menu of trout (for Dick a small whole trout) and pork roast for me. Everything was very authentic and good. Great fun! I have become suddenly nauseated at the thought of any more melted butter, French fries and lobster or crab. I hate admitting this but 2 weeks seems to be enough. We have been gone 2 weeks and only 3 dinners have not been seafood. Most of it has been great but tonight I needed a steak. It came…the color and hardness of shoe leather, so I acted very American and told the waitress. Ended up with great chicken, and might have to wait until DC for a good steak.
We actually got some laundry done late in the afternoon (when I started this) and have now had dinner. I have to say that my main impression of this area after 2 weeks is that people are living much more simply and are OK with it and are much more relaxed than we are in the US. This, of course, is not the same in the big cities of Montreal, Vancouver, etc but here things are much more low key. Unemployment is high but there doesn’t seem to be great gobs of poverty and it reminds us of Alaska where people did more than one thing to make ends meet. This tourist season has been terrible for them because the weather has been so cold and rainy. But everyone seems pleasant.
Missing you all but enjoying the cool, Lizzy or Betsy
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