Fortress Louisburg

We boarded the giant blue tour bus at 9:00AM this morning for a tour of Fortress Louisburg, a French fort and community from the 1740’s.  On two separate occasions the British took the fortress by siege and the last time they destroyed it completely, removing much of the stone for other building projects.  The original plans for the fortress were found in the 1960’s and the Canadian government undertook a 20-year project to reconstruct one-fifth of the original fortress.  Volunteer re-enactors dress in period costume to demonstrate what life was like for the French soldiers and civilians who once occupied the fortress.

The site was covered in dense fog when we first arrived, making photography extremely difficult.  By the time we left at 2:00PM the sun was coming out and the fog retreating.  When we arrived at our next stop, Louisburg’s Lighthouse Point, it was all blue sky and sunshine.  The original lighthouse was built in the 1730’s and the current lighthouse is the third one to occupy the site. 

We were back at the RV park in mid-afternoon so I managed to sneak in a nap before our “bag party” at 7:00PM.  A couple of weeks ago we were each given a brown grocery bag in which we were to place a $5.00 gift.  In the clubroom tonight we all sat in a circle with the paper bag gifts in the center.  Paul, our Wagon Master, gave each person a playing card (I had the four of diamonds).  From another deck he would draw a card, announce it, and the person holding that card would take a bag from the center, or “steal” one from another person.  Many of the items were gag gifts that resulted in quite a bit of fun.  I have said several times that we have yet to see a moose.  Well, the paper bag that I randomly chose from the circle contained a key ring with a small plush moose dressed in camouflage.  After making statements about not seeing a moose, I thought that my selecting a moose, in camo no less, was quite a coincidence.  But then I noticed an attached handwritten note that read, “There are moose out there.  They’re just camouflaged!”  It was like the gift had been intended specifically for me and I just happened to pick it out from the 44 paper bags.  Eerie.

Tomorrow we go on an all day bus tour of the Cabot Trail, which meanders for about 65 miles along the coastline of Cape Breton.  There should be plenty of photo ops if it isn’t foggy AND if they let us off the bus to take photos.  You know how I hate taking them through a window.