Fantasy RV Caravan - Day 21

Thursday, 22 August - Day 21

We awoke earlier then normal - maybe guilt for going to bed late with an unfinished task?  BTW, Sprinty is considering changing blog platforms after this adventure to something less temperamental and less dependent on consistent internet.

The group boarded the bus at 0845 to take us to the Fortress of Louisbourg, almost an hour away.  As we traveled to Louisbourg, it started raining.  Darrell got concerned Nova Scotia weather was going to refute his umbrella theory – carry an umbrella (which he was) and it won’t rain.  We had visions of trying to do a guided tour in a torrential downpour.

The skies opened up raining cats and dogs when we arrived at Fort Louisbourg, but by the time we got out of the bus, the rain had stopped and it didn’t rain for the entire time we were out wandering the Fortress.  As Darrell lugged the umbrella along the whole time.

We met the guide for our group where the bus dropped us off at the entrance to the Fortress.  

Cape Breton had been used for centuries by the Mi’kmaq as summer hunting grounds.  Prior to 1713, Cape Breton Island was used infrequently by the English, Spanish and French.  In 1713, Cape Breton (and Prince Edward Island) was settled by French settlers who came from Newfoundland.  Their first settlement was at Louisbourg as it had a natural harbor.  The settlement was mostly a fishing village.

The settlement grew.  By 1744, it was a city of over 2,500 with 40 merchants and 28 taverns.  The main export was fish and coal.   The village exported 30 million pounds a year of salted/dried cod.  Louisbourg also served as an entry point for goods bound for Montreal.  Our guide said as a port, it was on par with Boston, New York, and Charleston at the time.  By 1750, population was over 6,000.

As with Port Royal, Louisbourg went from being a French colony to being an English colony, and back and forth.  Quite disruptive to the residents as the French would leave, then return.

Photo from inside the King’s Bastion:

What exists today to visit is a reconstruction of about 25% of the original settlement.  Reconstructed based on archeology of the area, and careful study of hundreds of thousands of documents in France and Great Britain.  The reconstruction project also provided needed employment for former coal miners from Cape Breton.  Over 100 people are seasonally employed to dress in period garb and share their slice of life in Louisborgh in the mid-1700s.

Our guide then took us from the King’s Bastion to the old city area.

As your entered a building or room with a period person, they would greet you in English and French.  Based on your response, they would deliver their short explanation in that language.  When we entered the forge, the apprentice greeted us with Hello and Bon Jour.  Darrell replied with Bon Jour quietly, and the apprentice launched off in French.  Sensing that Darrell had no clue to what he was saying, he then switched over to English as if someone had reached over an flipped a switch.  And we saw this over and over.

In the storekeeper’s house, we engaged one of the servant ladies about the job of a reenactor.  She was from the local area and had been doing it for six years.  She said being a reenactor at the Fortress is considered good work in the area.

Kris and I wandered down to the sea wall where some construction was going on.  Large sections of the sea wall were being replaced.  Another section had been heavily damaged.  The sea wall repair was a very visible effort of Parks Canada’s challenge of maintaining the reconstruction built to look like the mid-1700s.  The elements are quite harsh, and some of the buildings exhibited peeling paint around windows, deteriorating wood shingles, etc.  While it was evidence of the reality of maintaining such a large park, it also lent a bit of authentic look to the buildings.

Around noon, we watched the musket firing and the cannon firing in the King’s Bastion.  We learned later at the information center that you can be someone to fire the musket or the cannon for an additional fee.  A fee of about $50-$60 each.

At 1230, we gathered at the Hotel de la Marine for a group lunch.  The dining was said to be as someone from the upper class would dine.  Hard wooden bench seats, no air conditioning or fan, no artificial lights, meal served family style, etc.  Kris enjoyed the chicken while Darrell had salmon.  

After lunch, we boarded the bus to head back to the campground and our organizer talked the bus driver into a detour to the site of the first lighthouse in Canada.

In 1731 the French erected the first lighthouse tower constructed of fireproof materials in North America, and the first lighthouse in Canada.

The lighthouse that currently stands on the site (unused and slowly deteriorating) was built in 1924.  

Next to it is the foundation of the lighthouse that was built in 1842 and was destroyed by fire in 1923.

We enjoyed taking in the seaside views.  The gray day, blustery wind (20 mph, gusting over 30mph), waves crashing on the rocks, and rugged terrain reminded us of Northern Scotland.

Once back to the campground, we decided not to try and fit in golf or additional adventuring.  Yesterday, one of our caravan mates visited the Sydney Mines Heritage Museum in Sydney Mines, NS (near our campground) and said it was a wonderful museum to learn about fossils.  She said the museum even suggested a nearby beach where you could look for fossils, and if you emailed a photo to the curator, they would respond if it was a fossil and what kind.  Another museum that looked interesting was the Miner's Museum in Glace Bay, NS (about 35 minutes from our campground).  Oh well, two more reasons to visit Cape Breton again.  Maybe as part of going to Newfoundland.  One of our caravan mates relayed a conversation she had with another River who was surprised we had come all this way and were not going to Newfoundland.

Dottie, one of our caravan mates, is a professional hairdresser (has had her license since 1976) with her own shop in Pennsylvania and has been attending to the haircut needs of the caravan.  She set up shop next to Sprinty to do Joe and Judy’s hair.  Then she called for Darrell.  Then she did Kris.  

She did nine or ten haircuts, men and women’s before dinner.  Darrell also helped Doug and Jan with a couple of simple repairs to their Tiffin - tightening loose screws that they did not have the right Allen wrenches for, and offering some suggestions for a water filter project Doug is working on.