Some history, and more beauty

 Today we explored the south side of Cape Breton, whose main attraction is the Louisbourg fortress.  It also has the biggest city in Cape Breton, Sydney, from which you can take the ferry to New Foundland. But both my travel book (Fodor) and my travel agent suggested that this was the only reason to go to Sydney.  So we bypassed it as we made our way from Baddeck, along and around the Bras d’Or Lake. 

  The Louisbourg fortress is a remarkable reconstruction of a 18th century town and fortress.  The last bastion of France’s attempt to keep control of Nova Scotia.  The town was completely  destroyed by the English during the siege of 1758, and only foundations remained of what was once a vibrant little town.  It was lovingly reconstructed, starting in the 1960’s, using archeological remains of both buildings and furniture, and is now a living museum.  

 This is how they reconstructed some of the original pottery, all of which, together with the furniture, had been imported from France. 

 They have people in costume re-enacting the various jobs and very eager to share their knowledge, in both French and English.  They all switched to French immediately upon hearing my accent - this was after all, a French town.

 The town, ramparts, governor’s palace, artillery ,furniture and furnishing are all beautifully done. It was really interesting. Here are a few pictures, in no particular order.

 

    

 

 From everywhere,you have the great view of the lighthouse across the bay. Can you see it from the dining room window of the governor’s palace? 

   

They also have very cute goats, and the white flag that was raised in 1758is still there….

 

They also have a full replica of the town, inLegos! The reconstruction only is about 20% of the town, but the Lego one covers the entire town!

  

And- that’s the least they could do- one of the building is dedicated to theMi’kmaq nation, that far predated the squabbles between the French and English.  The relationship with the early French and English was in fact quite good, but their culture was decimated by terrible government policies until the 1960’s. The government of Canada has since apologized.   Still….. a terrible story….

 
After the visit, we went to see the light house that is so prominent from the fortress. It is the first stone light house built in Noth America (not actually this one, the first one burned down).

 

And then had a picnic at the beautiful Kensington cove beach, followed by a stroll on the beach.  By then, the temperature had reached 85 degrees, and the water was just beautiful and cool (but not cold).  Oh how i wish i had brought my bathing suit ( orat least a towel, I think i would have gone in my underwear…..) 

 We drove back to Baddeck along the Bras d’or lake.   It is really hard to capture it’s breadth and beauty,in part because the coast is very irregular, with many arms and coves, and in part because it’s hard to get close to it and get a good point of view. It’s either blocked by trees, or by the house of those lucky enough to live on its shore.  

I had time to take stroll through the woods behind our hotel.  The trail is pretty and shady and,typical for a Canadian trail, very well maintained and very poorly marked. So I wandered around for a while, 

   

 

 Admiring the many mushrooms! 

  My favorite is this one which I think is a slippery jack boletus - which I had never seen before.

 We went back for dinner at the harbor and had- of course- mussels, but also some lobster crostini!