Sunday, July 21 – Day 33
We drove from our campground to Fortress Louisbourg located at the north-east end of Cape Breton Island. The Fortress played a pivotal role in the French occupation of North America in the 1700’s. The fortress was a busy centre of trade and a source of salted cod fish for the homeland. It was besieged and captured twice by a superior British naval force and was razed after the last capture. The current fortress was rebuilt on the stone foundations and bastions of the original. It seems that the French were meticulous about keeping records of even the most mundane aspects of everyday life. 
A shuttle bus takes you about 1 km from the visitors centre to the actual fort and other than the tourists everyone is in period dress. Costumed interpreters were everywhere throughout the grounds. We were greeted by a guard at the entrance to the fortress, who challenged us in English and in French before we were allowed to pass through.
As is typical of the Lewis’s, we were there for most of the day and caught one of the last shuttle buses back to the visitors centre.
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