Hello, friends. We made it to the eastern tip of New Brunswick. We are in Caraquet, the heart and soul of Acadia on the Bay of Chaleur. Being fond of the Cajun culture (especially its people, music & food), we wanted to explore its Acadian roots. Caraquet is home to the Historical Acadian Village and the huge Acadian Festival in August. Homes here proudly display the Acadian flag.
Acadians, of course, were the victims of The Great Deportation in the 18th century, a British military campaign to dissolve New France by forcibly removing the Acadian people from Acadia. Acadia today includes all of the current Maritime Provinces. During this deportation, some Acadians hid; some (today’s Cajuns) relocated to Louisiana. Others were shipped back to Europe, but thousands of them died during the journey from diseases and drowning. After a while, concessions were made and some Acadians moved back to this area.
The pictures below show the Acadian Historical Village, the sanctuary where some Acadians hid, and the lovely B & B where we stayed. The owner, Alain Boisvert, is a director at the local college. He considers his vintage home and furnishings one of his hobbies and a labor of love. He is also a published writer. Jill plans to read his novel when we return home.
Click on the picture of the plaque in the gallery to view a video that tells the story of the Great Deportation set to the song “Acadian Driftwood” by The Band.
9 Comments
Lovely! Your photos are terrific.
We are leaving Knoxville today, a lovely city with a small downtown vibe. We had great “linners” the last two days as we are attempting to watch our calories. This is a town we would revisit.
On to Nashville for three days.
I actually knew nothing of the history of the Acadians, so thank you for the lesson, accompanied by your always beautiful photography!
We added a video (set to “Acadian Driftwood” by The Band) to this post. The video and music does a good job of chronicling “The Great Deportation.” You can watch the video by clicking the picture of the deportation plaque. Enjoy!
As usual, you’re making me jealous! And hungry! (Good luck with your diet, Kate, after these temptations ) So glad you’re having a great time and keeping us posted on the local history. We hear about the Acadians in Louisiana a lot, they had a rough time of it.
Great looking area! Did you get to eat any jambalaya, crawfish pie, or filet gumbo–or are they only for the Louisiana Acadians?
Although we love Cajun food, French food is more common here. Wish you were with us.
Hi Guys, for some reason we cannot see your last 3 posts, had to back track and get into this one. It might be our system was just wondering if anyone else are having the same problem.
Nina
Hi Nina, sorry you are having issues. Felice Hunter also expressed some troubles. Please try to access using http://travel.vsdev.com You should see all posts in chronilogical order. We haven’t observed any issues from here.
Ok, thanks will do that. Cheers Nina