Hiking Through Acadian History

Hi Blog!

It’s hard to believe it's September already and we’re almost finished our Canadian Maritime adventures. One thing we hoped to accomplish here in the Maritimes, besides eating lots of lobster, was to get a better understanding of the traditional Acadian culture. We learned a little bit about it during our stay in Abbeville, Louisianna, and again in Caraquet, New Brunswick, not far from here in Bathurst where we're camped now, and we are looking to learn more.

Because we were in Caraquet so early in the season, we were unable to visit the Village Historique Acadien. We knew we had to come back this way, so we put this living history museum on our list for our stay in Bathurst.

Sunday, September 2, 2018, was our first full day in Bathurst, so we wasted no time in getting over to the Village Historique Acadien. Created to to preserve and develop the Acadian culture and artistic creativity, the Village is operated as a living museum that interprets the daily lives of Acadians between 1770 and 1939. We started our tour with a short video on the history of the Acadians in this area. The movie theater had the coolest lighting and seats.

The Village covers over two and half square kilometers with over 40 buildings. The Acadian story in this part of New Brunswick starts after the Great Expulsion (le Grand Dérangement). In time, some Acadians returned to the Maritime provinces of Canada, mainly to New Brunswick, because they were barred by the British from resettling their lands and villages in Nova Scotia. The earliest settlement depicted was from 1773.

We continued our hike around the village and proceeded through the 1800s. The farm houses became larger and more modern.

Farming and fishing were the main occupations. The traditional fishing shed contained all kinds of historic fishing gear, nets, lobster traps, cod jigs. There were barrels filled with clams, oysters and scallop shells. The place had a real fishy smell. Outside, salted cod was drying on wooden racks.

Time travel makes a person hungry. We had a chance to sample traditional Acadian Cuisine at La Table des Ancetres. The menu changes daily. The special on Sunday was roast beef with mashed turnips. The meat was so tender we could cut it with our fork. We washed it all down with some spruce tip beer!

By the late 1800s, you find all sorts of shops. There were blacksmiths, woodworking, general store and tavern. Here is the inside of the print shop, with its printing press. The interpretive artists that work in the print shop use and maintain the equipment. In addition to printing traditional type historical newspapers, they also print menus, cards and tags that are used around the village.

As we continued along, we reached the end of the 1800s. Schools and churches were an important part of every Acadian village. All along the road, we passed numerous vegetable gardens. The village produce is actually used in the hotel, restaurant and snack bar.

Nobody mentioned whether or not the geese, ducks, chickens, pigs, cows and sheep were put to similar use!

We stopped in the Grist and Carding Mill and marveled at the complexity of the carding machine.

The beginning of the 1900s takes us through a covered bridge as we look back at the mill buildings.

Irving Oil, one of the oldest refineries in New Brunswick, donated this antique gas station (circa. 1936). You would pump the gas up and measure out how many gallons and then gravity would delivery it to your vehicle.

The Hotel Chateau Albert is a replica of the 1907 hotel in Caraquet.The rooms offer all the comforts of that time, without telephones or television, to allow you to enjoy the calm that reigned in these areas at the beginning of the 20th century. Whenever possible, the atmosphere has been preserved, from the color of the walls to the lace curtains! However, to ensure the happiness and comfort of guests, access to Wi-Fi is free!

This photo is just because the yellow flowers and the yellow house just go together!

This photo shows one of the sideways dormer windows. Also, the cloud pattern is pretty cool.

Winter is coming....the pumpkins have already started to turn yellow!

Tomorrow, we hope to revisit our favorite distillery and stock up for our return voyage. This is also Labor Day Weekend here in Canada and we were invited over to the Union Hall to hear some local music. Stay tuned.