Rob-n-Hild, Eastward Ho!

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Louisbourg Fortress 138 km. 2:28 hours. Elevation maximum 87 metres

Today we took the short drive out to the west coast to visit the Fortress of Louisbourg. This was a very important French fortress - but had a very short life - 1719 to 1768! It was built by the French to support their cod fishery and trading from Cape Breton, but because of its strategic importance it was captured by British forces in 1745 and again in 1758, after which it was demolished. It is a shame because it was clearly a significant port - at one time it was the third largest in North America! Although demolished by the British in 1760, it has been re-created as a National Historic Site and is a very popular spot to visit.

We downloaded the mobile guided tour from Parks Canada (as we had done for Gros Morne) and although this one was not audio files, it was a great way to walk around the site and be prompted to read information at the appropriate places. Max mapped our walk (as usual) and you can see above how we wandered around for nearly two hours. There was more we could have done, as there were many guides in costume to talk to, but it was still quite cold and damp so we didn't linger too long.

All the buildings have been re-built, of course, but the original plans were all available. There were a lot of records because the French authorities were strict about their record-keeping - probably for tax purposes. The buildings included lots of merchants houses as well as military as this was an important trading post.

We didn't go into many of the buildings, but there was a nice military chapel and one building with a lot antiques and reproductions. There was a very strange statue in the chapel that Hild has included on the Stranger Things page. There was also a flock of sheep walking around, but they were a bit defective as Hild couldn't coax them over for a snuggle!

We did another slightly more energetic walk along "Old Town Trail" which went along the coast where the fishing community lived outside the Fortress. It was still quite drizzly, but at the end we could just see the Fortress looming out of the mist. After the Fortress was demolished, this area was settled by British families as the town of Louisbourg grew over the years. When the National Historic Site was established, 81 properties had to be purchased and the families moved off the land. It is a bit of a shame that most of this land is now just beach and scrubland as only a small part has been used for the Fortress.

Driving back to Sydney we detoured to Glace Bay and stopped at another National Historic Site - commemorating Marconi's transatlantic radio transmission which was situated here. However, not only was it hard to find, it was also not open yet for the season. Anyway we had to stop off at a laundromat and wash our clothes as we hadn't been able to do this since St John's. We had been hoping for a guest laundry at the hotel, but no luck and Hild was almost at the point stealing Rob's undies! Phew, that was a close one.

Coming up: Truro (Nova Scotia - not Cornwall!)

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