Fortress of Louisbourg in Sydney Canada

Fortress of Louisbourg is a wonderful place to walk around. It is in Sydney Canada.

When you go there it is like stepping back into 1744 durning the French settlement in Canada.

Everyone is dressed in period clothes and reenacts what life was like back then.

When we first walked up to the buildings I noticed this guy sitting in the window.

He did not look down at us. He just sat there cleaning his weapons as he would have back in 1744
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The cannons are still set up as they were back then.

It was fun to look around and know that this place is not just some make believe place but, it is really a spot from history.

While it is now a tourist spot, there were hardly any people there and that gave us a feeling of what it would have really been like durning a normal day there.

I felt like this guy was really keeping an eye out and protecting us. Against what? Well I don't really know. But I felt safe.

These are the actual buildings from 1744, the town. There are homes, pubs, the bakery, black smith, meeting halls and everything that had back then.

It was very cute and as you walked down the streets you felt like you would have known everyone that lived there. I could picture people walking and stopping to say hi to their neighbors.

Oh look! Here comes a nice lady now. Let's stop and talk to her.

She was happy to tell you about her day. The only thing is, her day is in 1744 so she had no knowledge of the present time today.

The church was very pretty. As I looked around I could picture families sitting in here together as they all prayed for safety, health and happiness for them and their loved ones. Much like today.

The items inside the church were just beautiful.

This is where they confessed their sins. Oh if only these walls could talk. I bet there would be some very interesting stories.

If you notice, there is only a curtain that blocks you from the outside. I wondered how many people would stand there and listen to what the person inside was saying.

Oh my, would that be a sin you would have to confess?

This is where the Captain lived. He had the best house. Notice how they only had a spoon at each setting.

They did not use forks yet. Just spoons. If you needed a knife you would just pull the one out of your pocket, cut your meet, wipe it off on your napkin and put it back in your pocket.

This knife would also be used to cut everything else they needed to cut. Inside and outside.

How would you like to have use a knife that someone had just used to cut a branch off a tree or took tar off their shoe?

This is a normal size room for the rest of the officers. Just a bed, desk and chair.

Though they did have a fireplace in the room. This was a real luxury in those days. It would get very very cold durning the winter nights.

Looks like this guy is off to work or perhaps just going home to his lovely wife.

Of course they had to have a jail. I would have hated to have to stay in this one. The floor is just dirt and rocks. No place to sit or lay. No place to even go to the bathroom except to dig a hole.

This is the big gate that would greet people as they came in from the sea.

Yes this looks like a normal house. Well, it was at one time. But for years they claim this is a haunted house and no one would live inside for more then a few days before they packed up and moved.

They say the spirit of the lady of the house still lives inside and would often show up and tell the new residence to get out as it was her house not theirs.

It's funny to think about ghosts being around even in the 1700's but hey, I guess they would have been.

Every home would also have a garden. Not just for beauty but also to grow necessary food.

I learned that people did not eat potatoes way back when. They would feed them to the pigs but wouldn't eat them themselves.

Everyone would also have animals running around. At first I thought how cute. Then it dawned on me that those poor animals were food.

This was a modern kitchen. It's hard to see but there is a chicken cooking over the fire.

I wonder if they always ate burned food back then. I know if I had to cook over an open fire like that I would burn everything.

The kitchen was always a nice warm place to be in the winter. However, in the summer time it was dreadful.

This lady was kind enough to show us how they made coffee back then. It's not like today at all.

They had to roast the coffee beans before grinding them up. The coffee didn't really taste the way it does today.

Next door the baker was baking bread. There were three kinds of bread. One was white bread that the higher ups would eat. Then came a mixture of white and wheat bread for the middle class and then whole wheat for the poorer people.

Funny how now days we know that they poor people actually got the healthy bread. Back then they had no idea that whole grains were better for you.

You could buy a loaf of bread for two dollars if you liked. I did. It is nothing like the bread we have today. It is very very heavy, dry and hard to chew.

This is the area where they would fix the cannons and other equipment they had.

If one needed water they would have to bring their buckets to this well. Now it's just a wishing well but back in the 1700's it was a life source of fresh water.

They still raise animals here. However, they no longer eat these animals.

The sheep herder just led these sheep back into their pen. It was so cute to watch this man running and all the sheep following him.

It was a wonderful day walking around, seeing what life was really like over 250 years ago.

I think this is a wonder place to go and I was very pleased I got to walk around and experience it.

It was so pretty there. I think I would have enjoyed living there if I were alive in 1744.

Oh and for you history buffs, this place was never once attacked by the enemy. Things remained quiet for this little town.