my travels in pixels

Louisbourg, Nova Scotia If you are up to it, here is the long version …. I’m not sure how accurate it is, but it makes a good story. In 1715 the French lose their fishing bases in Newfoundland and Acadia (Nova Scotia) with the war that ends the Spanish secession. They receive two islands – Île Saint John (Prince Edward Island) and Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) as compensation. Prince Edward Island was to be the bread basket for Louisbourg but they got there too late in the season and it would take a good 3-4 years before any food would be available to feed the new town. They needed a capital town for their new colony and the French decide on Louisbourg, so it became a planned, walled, fortified town. The French military told them it wasn’t a good idea as the hills were as high or higher than the walls they would be building, but the decision makers didn’t listen. The military wanted to use Baddeck, which had nice high cliffs, and was easy to defend. Louisbourg was a direct ro...

Louisbourg, Nova Scotia 23 July 2016 From Halifax we drove to Sydney, Nova Scotia. We had good roads, with three lanes, one for each way and a third that alternated as a passing lane for each way. Louisbourg Lighthouse in the fog Louisbourg is about a 40 minute drive from Sydney. I knew there was a lot to see, so we wanted to have a full day there. It had been a foggy, but warm and humid in Sydney, so we wore shorts. By the time we drove to Louisbourg, the fog had gotten heavier and the temperature had got a lot colder. After seeing a sign for a lighthouse we went to investigate and nearly didn’t see it in the fog. Fortress of Louisbourg Louisbourg in it's heday the gate to Louisbourg You can’t drive directly to the Fortress of Louisbourg. At the visitor’s centre, you have to wait for a bus which takes you down to the old settlement. It was still foggy and cold, so we put on our jumpers. We hadn’t counted on waiting for the bus for over 20 minutes when w...

Life of a soldier at the Louisbourg Fortress Most of the soldiers were recruited from the streets of France. They were promised lots of food, good living conditions, lots of money and lots of women, the reality was a little bit different. They were paid 9 livre a month but had to pay 7½ livre to the military for food, clothing and lodging. There were 6-7 men to every woman, so the odds were not in their favour. They got 4oz of vegetables a day, 4oz of salted meat and a pound and a half of bread. This was all put into a community pot and served up as a stew. Where the single soldiers lived The barracks were for single accommodations only. Three men were assigned to a bed, which were bunk beds. There with a number of bunks to a room, which accommodated 16-24 men. Two would share the bed at night while one would be on duty. The straw mattresses were changed once a year. There were 600-800 soldiers but Louisbourg was never fully garrisoned.  the uniform of the C...