EASTERN CANADA
I was fortunate enough to live and work in Quebec City and Nova Scotia for three months. These are the parts of Canada that were settled by the French in the early 1600s. But following key battles where the British were victorious, the French ceded Canada to Great Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris. The influence of the French is obvious in Old Quebec City with the architecture and the food. I loved my time there. It was almost like being in France. But I learned more in Nova Scotia, which was part of the region known as Acadia.
Acadian history in Nova Scotia began with a French settlement in 1605. For over a century these colonists thrived by farming the lands. Then came the Grand Dérangement, or the Expulsion of the Acadians, which was the forced mass deportation of the French-speaking Acadians by the British between 1755 and 1764. Approximately 11,000 Acadians had their lands confiscated, villages burned, and were scattered across the American colonies, Britain, and France. Thousands died from disease, drowning, and starvation in squalid ship conditions or while wandering for years as refugees. Today Acadian heritage is preserved and celebrated across the province. The French Shore in Southwestern Nova Scotia maintains a robust French-speaking population and vibrant Acadian culture. Since 1981 National Acadian Day has been celebrated annually on August 15th.
Of the Acadians deported by the British, 3,000 settled in Louisiana. Many of the Acadians were taken to France, but failed to assimilate. 1,600 were sent from France to Louisiana to be reunited with their Acadian brethren. The Acadians who settled in the bayous of Louisiana created a vibrant Cajun culture — the word "Acadian" was anglicized into "Cajun.” They developed Cajun French. They adapted their traditional French cooking techniques to local ingredients like crawfish, shrimp, alligator, okra, and sugarcane. This birthed classic rustic dishes such as jambalaya, gumbo, and boudin sausage. The distinctive Cajun music featured the accordion, fiddle, and triangle. Maintaining their strong Roman Catholic roots, Louisiana's Cajuns preserved traditions like Courir de Mardi Gras.
The photo at right was taken in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Originally settled by Acadians around 1680, it became the "breadbasket of Acadia" through an advanced system of dykes. It was also the epicenter of the Grand Dérangement (The Great Upheaval). The photo shows the Memorial Church, built in 1923 to commemorate the Acadian expulsion. The focal point is the bronze statue of Evangeline, a character from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie. Her story is an allegory for the Great Upheaval.
In the poem, Evangeline and her betrothed are separated on their wedding day as the British burn their village of Grand-Pré. Evangeline spends the rest of her life searching for him across the American colonies and down into the bayous of Louisiana, only to finally find him dying in a Philadelphia hospital when both are elderly.
Despite being entirely fictional, Evangeline became the personification of Acadian perseverance, enduring love, and cultural rebirth. Her narrative helped unite scattered descendants of the expulsion and establish the modern Cajun identity.
In St. Martinville, Louisiana, a massive oak tree called The Evangeline Oak is immortalized as the spot where Evangeline awaited her husband's arrival. It remains a major historical landmark.
The above photo, and the banner at the top of the page, was taken at Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia. Many visitors have left their mark by leaving behind small stacks of rocks, known as “Carins.” They don’t really have any significance, but they do make an interesting foreground for a photo.
The massive carving in the photo above is located in Peggy's Cove. It was sculpted by artist William E. deGarthe directly into a 100-foot granite boulder between 1977 and his death in 1983. The bas-relief sculpture honors Nova Scotian fishermen and depicts 32 fishermen, their families, and mythical figures like St. Elmo.
Le Château Frontenac in the old historic part of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and opened in 1893. It is a world-famous castle-like landmark. The hotel sits on Cap Diamant, a high point used for defense since Samuel de Champlain built a fort there in 1608. Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Canadian leaders met here on two occasions to plan D-Day and Allied war strategies. It has hosted royalty like King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, alongside celebrities like Alfred Hitchcock and Grace Kelly. It is one of Canada's grand railway hotels.T he Châteauesque architectural style, derived from medieval châteaux found throughout France's Loire Valley, would serve as a template for other Canadian grand railway hotels — Château Lake Louise and Banff Springs “Castle in the Rockies” to name a few.
The old walls of Quebec City are a 3 mile long defensive system, the only remaining fortified city walls in North America, and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built initially by the French in 1690 they were later fortified by the British following the American Revolution. I took the two above pictures from basically the same vantage point, but obviously at different times of year — leave it to the Canadians to install a public ice rink in the winter!
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