Louisbourg

The French created the most impressive fort in America at Louisbourg, so that they could defend their settlements from the British. The fort was placed very strategically, and as a result, the Americans were very unhappy about its presence. Unfortunately, the fort had little land defences even though it was considered impregnable from sea. The British took it from land, handed it back in a treaty, took it by land again, and blew it up.

It remained a heap of rubble until the coal mines of Cape Breton Island were closed and the miners were all out of work. They then got the plans from France, checked with archeological digs, and historic papers, and rebuilt about a quarter of it.

It’s basically a fortress with a town inside. The buildings all have people reenacting the things they might have been doing at the time the French were there.

You enter via the fortress gates. There is a wide street next to the harbour, and many civilian and military buildings, including the king’s bastion. You can go inside a lot of the buildings which are set up with authentic furnishings. There are also a number of displays about how the reproduction was achieved, archeological finds from the site, conservation techniques.

After spending a lot of time there, I went to the Marconi museum, which was closed for the season. It is where the first successful radio transmission from America to Europe took place.

I am staying in the Bas D’Or lakes which are beautiful.