Louisbourg, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

It was a cold, damp, and overcast day when we arrived in Cape Breton Island for our visit to the historic town of Louisbourg. Cape Breton Island is at the eastern end of the province of Nova Scotia and sits at the confluence of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. Today, we tendered into the town for our included tour, “Historic Fortress Louisbourg.” 

Arriving in Louisbourg

Before visiting the fortress, however, we traveled to the iconic Louisbourg Lighthouse, a historic structure with roots dating back three centuries. The current lighthouse sits high on the rocky coast and is on the site of Canada’s first lighthouse, built in 1734. We had a nice view of our ship from here.

Tim at the Louisbourg Lighthouse, with Our Ship in the Background

The Rocky Coastline of Cape Breton Island

We then traveled along the harbor to reach the historic Fortress of Louisbourg. Here, we joined our Parks Canada guide to experience the year 1744 during a tour of the largest eighteenth-century French fortified town in North America. During its heyday, Louisbourg was one of France’s linchpins of trade and military strength in the New World. Today, the partially reconstructed fortress is a living museum with more than 50 buildings across 12 acres.

Views Along the Harbor

We started our tour in the King’s Bastion, where we saw the chapel, and then began our walk through the town, learning about the history of many of the houses along the way. Afterwards, we had time to visit the various buildings on our own. It was starting to rain as we boarded our motorcoach for the ride to the tender, which returned us back to the ship. Although the weather hadn’t been the best, we were all grateful that we had taken the morning tour. At least we had been dry!

Fortress of Louisbourg and the the King's Bastion

The Streets and Buildings in the Fortress of Louisbourg

Engineer's Residence

Exhibit on the Construction Methods of the Buildings at the Fortress of Louisbourg

Imagining the Activity at the Fortress of Louisbourg in the 1700s

Tim and I had a delightful lunch with Donna, our speaker from last night, and her daughter Sarah, and learned more about their project. I was the only one of the four of us who helped to decimate Spencer the pig. Poor Spencer!

Lunch with Sarah, Donna, and Spencer - Poor Spencer!

I ended the day with another great lecture by Specialist Todd entitled “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: Reflections on a Tragedy and a Song.” Todd used Gordon Lightfoot’s song as the basis for his recounting of the shipwreck on Lake Superior in 1975.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald