Day 50 - Sunday, July 20 - Fortress of Louisbourg

Holy - 50 days on the road and we are both still alive with all the body our parts still in tact.  Wonderful.  So today our adventure us going to take us to Louisbourg to visit the Fortress. 

The Fortress is a National Historic Site and located not far from the modern city of Louisbourg.  

You cannot get to the site by car, you have to park at designated parking lots and take a shuttle bus from the information centre.  So we boarded the bus and we are off!

We walk up to the main gate and a sentry stands guard.  He stops Dan with the point of his rifle asking what is his business is here.  He then goes on to ask where we come from - "British Columbia, Dan replies.  Oh my don't say British around here they are the enemy!!!  It was pretty cute - anyway after a bit he let us pass through.  

Inside is the reconstructed town that takes you back in time to the 18th Century.  This isn't just a fort - it is a town built to protect its citizens of the French reign.  In 1712 Louisbourg was a major fishing centre located on the trade routes between North America and Europe.  The town was reconstructed using plans that survived trial and tribulation of the war years.  Amazing!!

We wandered about and went to the Kings Bastion for the firing of the cannon and the soldiers daily drill.  

The cannon and rifle fire was very loud!  But awesome to watch the drills that they would have to do on a daily basis preparing to protect the fortress when needed.

One of the reconstructed buildings.  Amazing craftsmanship. 

This is the Kings Bastion that would have housed the soldiers and commanding officers.

Part of the town site.  There are ducks, turkeys, chickens, sheep all being raised in the town site - so there are actual barns and livestock yards.  Blacksmiths forging, bakers baking, children playing hooky from school and thievery going on in the town.  We witnessed a thief being marched through the streets to the central area that had iron shackles for publicly shaming thieves.  This particular thief stole a bottle of wine from the Captains Quarters and was caught. 

Then he was shackled and allowed to plead his case.  He blamed the act on the group who had dared him to do it to impress the love of his life.

A rowdy bunch you would not want to cross.  

In the end he was released with threat of worse punishment if he was ever caught stealing again.  It was very entertaining.  

We decided to try an 18th Century lunch.  So we waited quite a while to be seated but finally got in and shared a long table with others.  You sat on wooden benches and the table held 6 people.  The waitress came to take our order - menu very meager and plain.  We had soup, soda bread and cheese and two cups of coffee.  Here's what our food looked like.  

The waitress explained that there were only spoons for the meal.  So you use the end to get sugar for your coffee and stir as well.   Soup bowls and plates are metal and the cups of coffee were very small.  The napkin was to be worn as a bib to keep your clothes clean.  It was a real experience. Our waitress was very cute.

Those period actors were really excellent and made the town come alive.  Very educational that's for sure.  There are actual ruins of some of the town that have been uncovered and identified as well.  A very busy town in its time. 

We talked to a young soldier and asked him how much he made and how he got there.  He told us he was a very poor boy in France and was offered a position as a soldier under the Kings Reign in the new country of Canada.  You will be paid 9 livre a month.  We will pay your way there, give you clothes and boots and a rifle, which you will pay off from your pay.  It all sounded wonderful.  But when the deductions were made for all those things, plus the room and board a soldier only had maybe 1 1/2 livre left - enough to buy one shoe.  So there was no hope for a soldier, they could never get out of debt - once a soldier always a soldier.  

The Fortress is truly an experience not to be missed.