So, the tail end of a tropical summer storm hit the east side of Cape Breton Island today, our day to visit the Fortress of Louisbourg. We didn’t let the storm stop us, we ventured forth just as the early French colonists would have done, regardless of the weather. If our forefathers, and foremothers, had only explored and built in good weather much of Canada would still be unsettled!

A little background on the fortress:

• it is the largest historical reconstruction in North America
• one fourth of the walls and one fifth of the town have been reconstructed by Parks Canada
• it is a fortress (not a fort) because it enclosed a town
• after the fortress was destroyed in 1758 some of the stones from its walls were used in construction in Halifax and Boston
• it was built to protect France’s interest in the lucrative cod fishing grounds

The drive to the fortress was rough. The dirt road was riddled with potholes full of muddy water. We were directed to park in a grassy area and then we walked to the “yellow” house to pay the entry fee. We decided to take two tours – a guided walk and a back in time tour where three interpreters in costume would tell us about life in the 1700s in Louisbourg. We had a bit of time before the first tour so we headed to the King’s bastion. A female soldier welcomed us into the chapel and gave us a great deal of information about the building and the fortress. We left there to explore the rest of the bastion, which included a sample of an officer’s quarters and the Governor’s Apartments. The Governor, as the King’s representative, lived a very comfortable life in rather grand surroundings. The last photo is the room where he meted out the King’s justice.

We left the bastion and returned to the yellow house to join the walking tour. Our guide, Hilda, was a local woman who had a lot of first-hand colour to add to the history she delivered. We did spend more time inside buildings than usual because of the weather but we still spent some time out in the wind and rain and mud. When that tour ended we started the next. A soldier met us at the yellow house and took us to the officer’s guardhouse where a welcoming fire was burning in the fireplace. He went through how a soldier was recruited (usually with deception and treachery) and what his life was like in the new world. When he was finished, he took us outside where he shot his musket, the kids in the tour group loved that, and then he walked us to the house of a sea captain.

The mother of the sea captain’s wife greeted us and told us how the captain was away and she was there helping her daughter who had just had her sixth child, her fifth daughter. She told us of the life of the French colonists who had the means to live in warm, secure homes with live-in servants. She pointed out they lived as colonists, not settlers, so they had all the creature comforts they could afford to bring over from France. She answered a few questions and then walked us to the residence of the King’s engineer.

We were greeted by one of the servants of the residence. He led us through the chocolate trade and we were given a tiny cup of hot chocolate. It was not what we know as hot chocolate as it was not sweetened nor made with milk, but I though it was delicious. He told us chocolate was used as a form of medicine, well, duh, I’ve been medicating myself with it for years. He walked us through the rest of the residence and told us of the life of the man who designed and was responsible for the building of the fortress, Etienne Verrier. The tour was over at the end of his presentation.

The only other pictures that I took of the fortress were out the windows of some of the buildings: it was raining too hard outside and inside was too dark.

We wanted to take in some more of the buildings that were open and/or occupied with interpreters but we were too cold and too wet to continue. We made our way to the car and drove to our inn. We changed out our wet clothes and went to one of the two restaurants that was open in town. Of course by then the storm was over, so after dinner we drove to the lighthouse. The sea was still a little rough which made for some wonderful photos and a lighthouse photo op is always a good idea.

Our east coast adventures are over. Tomorrow we drive to Halifax, we drop the rental car on Friday and we fly home Saturday. We didn’t have great weather and most of the attractions weren’t up to their full operations, but we still had a great time. We even had discussions about buying and restoring an old house in Lunenburg, so I have the feeling that we aren’t finished with the Maritimes just yet.