Well, Heidi and Lee sat around much of the morning after breakfast in the lovely surroundings of our BnB here in Wolfville, catching up on email and such, before setting out for a country drive.
That drive took us first -- quite by accident -- to a fine view of the Acadian dykes built in the seventeenth century by the early French settlers in the area and the resulting farm land salvaged from the sea.
Then we found ourselves at the Grand Pre National Historical Site honoring those same settlers. Their saga, however, is not a happy one since they were caught up in international disputes between the British and the French (or, rather, since religious loyalties carried more weight back then, between British Protestants and French Catholics) during much of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth century.
After 1755, following a British triumph in the ongoing clashes between the two European powers, the British confiscated all Acadian holdings and expelled around 10,000 of them from Nova Scotia altogether for refusing to sign oaths of unqualified allegiance to the English monarch. Not a pretty story but one conveyed in a VERY sophisticated audio-visual presentation involving high definition video and 3D holograms!
The site also features an archeological dig and a beautiful memorial hall built to resemble an Acadian church and set in the midst of a lush, Victorian style garden (inherited from a private railroad line which built the original in the 1930s).
We then drove over hill and dale across the valley, up along a forested ridge and down to Hills Harbor, hoping to feast on what is purportedly the best lobster in Canada while also observing the tidal tides in the Bay of Fundy. Upon arrival, we found the tide was out, leaving lots of lobster boats stranded upriver in the small harbor; and, unfortunately, the lobster restaurant, closed for the season.
Since the windy, cold, rainy weather we've encountered all day hereabouts appears to be an honest-to-goodness Nor'easter, we won't attempt to return to Hills Harbor this evening to witness the high tide due then -- you'll just have to imagine the tide level rising to the water level apparent on the wooden pilings in the images above...
Instead tonight we'll head out for another tasty seafood dinner, this time at Acton right in Downtown Wolfville.
 |
| SITTING IN PARLOR WITH HEIDI. THE STAIN GLASS WINDOWS ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER |
Then we found ourselves at the Grand Pre National Historical Site honoring those same settlers. Their saga, however, is not a happy one since they were caught up in international disputes between the British and the French (or, rather, since religious loyalties carried more weight back then, between British Protestants and French Catholics) during much of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth century.
After 1755, following a British triumph in the ongoing clashes between the two European powers, the British confiscated all Acadian holdings and expelled around 10,000 of them from Nova Scotia altogether for refusing to sign oaths of unqualified allegiance to the English monarch. Not a pretty story but one conveyed in a VERY sophisticated audio-visual presentation involving high definition video and 3D holograms!
The site also features an archeological dig and a beautiful memorial hall built to resemble an Acadian church and set in the midst of a lush, Victorian style garden (inherited from a private railroad line which built the original in the 1930s).
 |
| THE FIELDS, THE MEMORIAL MUSEUM, THE MEMORIAL WINDOW AND A COMMEMORATIVE PAINTING OF ACADIAN FARM FAMILIES AT WORK |
Since the windy, cold, rainy weather we've encountered all day hereabouts appears to be an honest-to-goodness Nor'easter, we won't attempt to return to Hills Harbor this evening to witness the high tide due then -- you'll just have to imagine the tide level rising to the water level apparent on the wooden pilings in the images above...
Instead tonight we'll head out for another tasty seafood dinner, this time at Acton right in Downtown Wolfville.
No comments:
Post a Comment