Who knew! When we checked in yesterday we just went to our assigned room and had a quick look around the area. This morning as we looked at the brochure in our room about the motel/inn we discovered that we were sleeping in the home of Robert Borden, Canada’s 8th prime minister. For more about Robert Borden (click here).
I don’t think I knew that he was born in Grand Pre. After a delightful complementary breakfast with a couple from Ontario we headed out to the Grand Pre UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It was less than a km away so it was nice to be able to walk on this gorgeous day. The museum does a great job in describing the lives of the Acadian people who lived here between 1682 and 1755. We saw how they built the dykes to help control the tides of the Bay of Fundy. They were quite ingenious in how they turned this area into rich fertile soil.
The Acadians were caught in the middle of the squabbles and battles between France, England, Mi’kmag and New England. They tried to be neutral but it seemed that everyone of the players thought they were helping or going to help the other side. The British sought to neutralize any military threat and interrupt trade so they rounded up the Acadian people and expelled them. What was disturbing was that the Acadians had already signed a treaty earlier with Britain saying they would be neutral, but this apparently wasn’t enough for the British. Over 10,000 people were expelled and sent to New England (who really wanted French speaking Catholics), France, Louisana, Haiti, Belize and the Caribbean etc. Many died. The museum does try to present the differing views of the French, English and Mi’kmag. There was also a replica of the official apology from Queen Elizabeth II. I must admit I wonder how this helps the descendants of these people.
One of the “oops” of the afternoon was that Greg lost his glasses (this is usually my job) so we searched all the places we had walked in the grounds of the museum to no avail. Luckily he had another pair with him and the ones he lost weren’t his good ones. If it had been me I could have just gone to the drugstore but Greg’s are prescription. One of the good parts of this searching was that Greg treated me to some grapenut ice-cream (just a small one). So good. The other bonus was that we ended up getting all of our steps in for the day.
A great dinner at the restaurant at the motel. I had scallops wrapped in bacon( had to kiss Greg good-night before I ate). The restaurant is known for its pies and they make about 8 different kinds each morning. Greg said he can’t remember the last time he had coconut cream pie with so much coconut. Maybe tomorrow we will have pie and coffee for breakfast.
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