24 Acadian Historic Village

Canada
Québec & New Brunswick
Nova Scotia & Newfoundland
Québec & Ontario
Manitoba to the Pacific

1 Arriving in Montréal
2 Montréal
3 Olympic Village
4 Looking for a motorhome
5 To the Eastern Townships
6 Eastern Townships
7 On to Magog
8 North Hatley via USA
9 Back to Magog
10 Back to Montreal
11 The Roadtrek 170P
12 North to Beaumont
13 La Grosse Ile
14 On to Trois Pistoles
15 Still at Trois Pistoles
16 Cap Chat
17 Windmills and mooses
18 Mont Jacques Cartier
19 Mont Louis
20 Slow start to Percé
21 Percé
22 On to New Brunswick
23 Caraquet
24 Acadian Historic Village
25 South to Shediac
26 Moncton
27 Catch up in Moncton
28 On to Fundy
29 Alma, Fundy Nat Park
30 Fundy National Park
31 On to Fredericton

Canada

Caraquet to Ile Miscou, New Brunswick

Thursday 25 August 2005 (day 95)

Our trip today was to the Acadian Historic Village. We have been struggling to find out about these people. French speaking, they settled in what is now called Nova Scotia (they called it Acadia), When the French and the English were battling over Canadian territory they decided (for some reason we do not know) not to ally with either their French countrymen or with the English. For a while their independence was trouble free but at some point the English said they either had to swear allegiance to England or be deported. Not wanting to do the former, they succumbed to the latter but were not allowed to take any personal possessions or wealth with them.

Happy as a pig in mud

They travelled far and wide throughout Canada, the US even as far as the Falkland Islands looking for new homes. Some even settled in England which I found odd as the reason they were deported in the first place was because they would not swear allegiance to England. Like refugees today they were not always welcome in their new destinations and some were turned away. Eventually settlements reformed again along the New Brunswick coast. The village we went to today has relocated some of the old settlement buildings into a historic village showing the evolution of Acadian life from the 1700's to the early 1900's.

The Acadians were farmers and fishermen. It took about twelve to fifteen years to build a full farm with house, grain stores, cattle sheds etc. Initial basic buildings were extended and developed over time to accommodate what generally seemed to be large families and the increasing requirements of running a farm. The buildings on the site chart this development from simple one room houses with dirt floors to more sophisticated houses with separate functional rooms that also accorded family members more privacy.

There were a few different farms in the village. Between them they raised turkeys, chickens, goats, pigs, cows, ducks and grew crops of potatoes, corn and flax as well as having "kitchen" gardens. The pigs were enormous - it always amazes me how big they are - and were snoring away quite contentedly in the afternoon heat. They also had some big bulls with nasty looking horns.

In each of the buildings guides in period dress were on hand to explain what life was like at the time the buildings were made. They were also re-enacting some of the daily household chores and occupations. We were serenaded around the village by a fiddler, saw the blacksmith in operation, just missed the miller doing his stuff, talked to the cooper and the printer of the local paper and got caught by the school teacher who loved the sound of her own voice and would not let us escape. We had demos of how wool is spun (I had always wondered how a spinning wheel worked) and how flax, a type of grass, is turned into linen. Only part of the stalk is good for linen. The stalks are beaten then pulled through wire "teasers" to separate the tough stalks (which were then mixed with mud and used for insulation) from those used for the cloth. All the preparation was done in the summer so that the spinning and weaving could occupy the cold winter days and nights.

Fiddling for his drinks

We stopped at La Table des Ancetres for a spot of Acadian lunch (chicken stew with potatoes and beans) and later at the Hotel Chateau Albert for a glass of Acadian coke. This is in a newer part of the village, set up six years ago, the rest has been there for about twenty years. The hotel is great step back in time to the early 1900's. You can stay overnight for CAN$140 each and if you do you get a ride in a 1923 model T Ford thrown in as part of the package - a bit pricey.

Having expected to only be there for an hour or two we were actually there for about four hours in total. It is a similar idea to the Black Country Museum in Dudley in the Wets Midlands. It was interesting to follow the changes over time. The most recent house, the barrel makers, dates from 1937 and has a much more familiar look and feel to its layout and contents - the type of house your grandparents would have lived in was the explanation given. The changes through the years first really became apparent in the Maison Therault which was built in 1860. This had an internal well, separate room for the man of the house to conduct business and was designed for both harsh winters and hot summers.

The most unusual item in the village was in the Babineau Farm and it was an early form of sofa bed. A box shaped wooden bench in front of the kitchen fire opens up to reveal what they call the Beggars Bed, so called because it was made available, with a meal, to the beggar who came calling. AS the beggar (I think they probably mean tramp) wandered around from village to village he was a good source of information and gossip. A bed for the night and a meal was a small price to pay for keeping up to date with the latest news.

In the evening we headed up to Miscou Island for the night. The road wound through more small villages, one of which proclaimed internet access at the local school. We went for a look but the school was shut! The campsite, Camping La Vague, was small and basic, the plots were not well maintained and the place was pretty full of mossies. As it was by the sea we went for a look at the beach - long and sandy. Stef discovered that the supposed warm waters were not really that warm and had a very quick dip. He was not alone - either in having a dip or in the speed of it. With the bug situation being a bit dire, we gave up on the idea of al fresco dining and enjoyed the sunset from behind the protection of our bug screens (we were not alone on that either!).

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