Day 30 - Grand Pré with Andrée and René - Wed, July 17

Robert and André had made a 7:00 am date to go to Tim Horton's to work on the previous two days' posts, then joined René and I later on the beach where we finished our coffees. Of course, Robert picked more rocks. I think we may need to open a quarry when we get home!

The beach, 1 minute walk from our campsite...

René, Suzie and Robert on Evangeline Beach

After chatting, a leisurely breakfast of fruit and delicious Montreal St Viateur Bagels (that René found at Pete's in Wolfville), chatting, taking down Andrée and René's tent, chatting, preparing our picnic supper, chatting... we then realized that it was already 2:00 PM! So, we made our way to Grand-Pré National Historic Site a few minutes away.

 René, sporting a new look!

Is it 2:00 PM already??? Let's go!

A sculpture near our campground:

"Mercury Rising"... very cool!

At Grand-Pré Interpretive Centre

Grand-Pré was founded in the early 1680's by young couples from Port Royal, and became the bread basket of Acadie and one of the largest Acadian settlements before the deportation. The acadians were ingenious in creating a dyke system that would keep back the tides of the Minas Basin in the Bay of Fundy thus creating very fertile land for crops and animals. These dykes are still in place and are responsible for making the Annapolis Valley some of the most fertile land in North America. 

This is a beautiful site worth seeing. Colin and I had visited this on our trip years ago. The short film shown in the Visitors Centre about the deportation is very moving. The exhibit hall clearly shows you how the dykes were made. 

The memorial church is dedicated to the 10,000+ acadians who were deported during the 7 year war.  We took a tour in french and our guide was so informative. She was able to answer our many questions.  

 A very old well!

 Stained glass representing the deported Acadians 

(Notice red "fractures" in the glass, representing a fractured population)

In the church... notice the names of the deported Acadians in the foreground...
Great photo that René took through the reflection of the plaque of Acadian names!

Sculptured hedges in the amazing adjacent gardens 

Huge weeping willows in the gardens!

Notice the size of the trunks!

Statues depicting the families being separated...

There is also a statue of Evangeline, the fictional character of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem: Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians. It became Longfellow's most famous work in his lifetime and remains one of his most popular and enduring works. The poem had a powerful effect in defining both Acadian history and identity in the nineteenth and twentieth century.

Evangeline

We stayed till closing, then found a place for our picnic near one of the dykes.  We were being annoyed with no-see-ums, so we ate quickly then took a walk on the dykes.  We toured around a bit more, then headed back to our campsite. 

Andrée and Suzie, walking on a dyke...

 Has this wood pile been seasoned long enough yet?

 More awesome boulders!

 More art... showing on the telephone pole how high the water 

would be in the field if the dykes had not been created in the 1600's by the Acadians!

 A church from approximately 1870, near our campground...

 Organ donation...

Suzie playing with the organ...

We then said our goodbyes to Andrée and René who left for home. We'd had a lovely visit with them. It's always a highlight spending time with them, and it's always a little sad saying goodbye...  This also marked the official end of our trip eastward. Tomorrow, we would begin our long westward journey home... sigh...