A VisitList through the heart of Acadie

This site’s rich history and untouched nature is beautiful. There are many interesting facts about this place; the history of the island touches upon fortune as a Mi’kmaq trading post for early Acadian settlers and shipbuilding, and reminisces great loss with the deportation of Acadian people.

While walking through the beautiful nature trails from one end to the other of the island, there is interpretation panels that are very informative and helpful in the understanding of the history of the island. The boat ride from the interpretive center to the island was quite nice as well.

There is a great opportunity for learning about Acadian culture at this site. The building is a symbol of Renaissance Acadienne and showcases the history, the culture, and achievements of Acadian people. There is a new cafe which offers a great place to sit, eat, drink, and have a chat. The building houses a theatre as well which puts on interesting and engaging plays, and its goal is to sustain and nourish Acadian culture and education.

This beautiful site offers spectacular scenery. With friendly and knowledgeable staff, you will be immersed into the rich history of the site with it’s star-shaped fort, its beautiful open landscape, its dark casemates and its rich museum, it has something that appeals to everyone.

For nature fanatics and birdwatchers, it is pertinent to mention that this site is also part of the Fundy Biosphere where you can watch shorebirds on the mudflats from afar.

Although this site has no remains, the history of this site is very important. In the 17th century, there was an Acadian village here, one of the largest settlements. In 1750, the French learned that the British were advancing towards them and burned down the village. A short time later, the British erected a fort at the old Acadian site, named Fort-Lawrence and the French answered by building Fort-Beauséjour. In 1755, the British captured Fort-Beauséjour and renamed it Fort-Cumberland, thus, abandoning Fort-Lawrence.

In fact, on this site, if you look across the field, you can see Fort-Beauséjour. Interpretation panels are available to help better understand the history of the land and the sheltered picnic area is awesome for a place to picnic.

The Fort Gaspareaux National Historic Site plays an important role in the history of the land. Here, we have found traces of the French Fort Gaspareaux as well as remains of 9 soldiers that were killed while garrisoning the fort. Today, we can see these 9 graves.

Grand-Pré National Historic Site is one of my favourite sites. The picturesque landscape will have you in awe – it is also a part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The very impressive artefacts and statues will tell the story of the site and of a long, rich and continuing Acadian culture.

The Memorial church, which houses a museum dedicated to the Acadian people is very rich with information on the settlements that were on the land long ago.

Additionally, the Evangeline statue is of utmost importance as it is thanks to Longfellow’s poem, Evangeline : A Tale of Acadie, that interest was brought to Grand-Pré and that the Acadian culture was brought to light.