When we visited this part of Nova Scotia several years ago we did not get to Port Royal which is a short distance from Annapolis Royal. This time we do. It was here that the French nobleman Sieur de Monts and Samuel de Champlain (remember these two guys from St. Croix Island?) and the remaining survivors from the settlement at St. Croix re-locate in the summer of 1605. The site was reconstructed in 1939 and is based upon drawings and notes kept by Champlain and other inhabitants of what is called the Habitation. It is a fascinating site. It really gives you a sense of the conditions of the time. Bravo yet again to Parks Canada.

The entrance way, though the wrong way!

The Habitation square from the inside out!

All ready to eat!

Ahh, my sister came to visit!

Nice canoe!

A wood lathe, foot powered!

Colonists living quarters

Living quarters, the noble kind

Big muskets or little cannons? … they shoot a one pound ball!

Three chimneys!

A good solid entrance door!

Crests of the Order of Good Cheer

Upon our return to Annapolis Royal, we visit several art shops and a wonderful little German bakery. The town has not changed much and is still impressive with the number and quality of old homes and the Fort Anne site. You may wonder why we aren?t describing Fort Anne? Well this is easy to answer, we did it the first time we were here and skip it this time!

Annapolis Royal from Granville Ferry

Officers? quarters at Fort Anne

Sieur de Monts

Impressive sculpture of rusty bits

We continue following a little map we have picked up that directs one to all these wonderful artisans and their studios. We pick up a terrific watercolour of two baby blue jays before stopping at Hilda de Weaver Woven?s, where yet again the quality, style and technique impress. What the heck, whats one more vest anyway, besides it looks just great on Lynn. These little studio jaunts are hard on the old pocket book! One more stop for some u-pick raspberries to enjoy while we watch two rented DVD?s for the evening. You can?t beat watching Return of the King while munching freshly picked raspberries all for only $3.50!

So we spent the night looking at the guide and circling which shops and historic sites we would like to visit, and we are off at the crack of 11 am. Ya, crack of our day! So Grand Pre National Historic Site is our first stop … get our education first thing! Many of you will not have heard of this significant place so I?ve chosen to give you the ?official? line, which is the Parks Canada brochure. Always a great little overview! Grand Pre is the commemorative site of the deportation of the Acadians. At the beginning of the XVIIIth century, there was already a large settlement of Acadians in ?Les Mines? the area where Grand-Pre was located. Alternately under the rule of Britain or France, Acadie grew to the point of developing its own identity. Acadians, anxious to preserve their peaceable lifestyle, remained neutral between the two nations. Ceded by France to Great Britain in 1713, Acadie henceforth became Nova Scotia. Then came the Deportation (1755-1763). The British authorities in Nova Scotia ordered that the Acadians be deported in 1755 to Anglo-American colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. Approximately 6,500 Acadians were victims of this first wave of deportations. Thus began the ?Grand Derangement?, a tragedy that was destined to change forever the course of Acadian history. Now back to my own words! This year is the 400th anniversary of the Acadians. Now what does that mean? I think 1604 would be the year the 50 families arrived in this area of North America with the intention of making it their home. A very fascinating chunk of our history that I must have been sleeping through in grade school. Either that or our BC curriculum didn?t think it important enough to cover? In any case I do feel like I know lots more about Canadian history, not as much as Lawrie knows, but getting there!

Angeline, the icon of the Acadians immortalized by Longfellow

The memorial chapel built to be a museum.

The chapel spire

The deportation depicted in stained glass

The well near the church!

We stop next at the Tangled Garden. They have some wonderful artwork but an even more fantastic garden. They also produce a wide variety of vinagers and jellies. Of course all the ingredients come from there gardens.

Metal coneflowers … Lynn loves the rusty stuff!

Through the eye!

More rusty bits, it?s amazing what you can do with them!

Lily pads!

One of the herb gardens

Through the garden gate

Down the garden path

Just down the road is a couple who make wooden lawn chairs and then paint huge pictures of flowers on them. I am having a hard time describing them as there are no pictures because I am across the street giving the dogs some exercise when right about this time Oreo takes it into her head to go and find Lynn. She tears off across the field, over the highway, into the shopkeepers yard. Unfortunately, Lynn is not even at the shop anymore. She has quietly re-crossed the highway to take a picture of the Acadian flag but hears my desperate attempts at curbing Oreos?s headlong search and turns just in time to see Oreo cross the highway. She too sees Oreo?s mad dash and adds here voice to the commotion. Of course, Oreo hears Lynn and proceeds to dash down the highway in the direction of Lynn?s voice. Can you believe that during all this, not one single car comes down the highway, much to our relief. So no pictures, just this one of the flag all done in flowers for the big celebration just down the road at Grand Pre.

Just fits this way!

Lastly, we visit a husband and wife bird carving team. What a wonderful couple. They both took up the hobby upon retireing. Earl carves and Sheila paints them up. They have won numerous times at the world and regional championships and their carvings are very, very impressive. One of these days we will own one.

Earl & Sheila

A small selection!

So the rest of the afternoon is spent in the lovely town of Wolfville. You only get one picture though, cause you don?t tend to take many pictures sitting in an Irish pub!

There is a building in here, somewhere!