Louisbourg

Wow oh wow.  Louisbourg is a strong dose of history.  The short story is that the French were ceded Nova Scotia with the Treaty of Utrecht (you can google it) and the Brits got Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.   They then proceeded to build a fort on the far east coast, which took nearly 30 years to complete.  It was quite large evidently, and also the administrative and trading center of the area.  The location is windswept, with low trees and the fort proper sits on a spit of land, hunkered down from the wind and winter storms.
30 years later the Brits got feisty and decided to lay seige to the fort, and won it in 45 days.  Must have been cold.  They lost it 2 years later to the French again, and then a few years after that the Brits dumped just short of 30,000 troops (land and sea) to get the fort a 2nd time, in 7 weeks.  They destroyed the lot and it was a ruin until the early 1960's.  The Canadian government undertook a massive public works project to rebuild the fort to compensate for the closing of the mines in the area.  They are still at it, but the work is AMAZING.  The fort is only 25% rebuilt and a great look into the history of the area from the early to mid 18th century.
We had a great time poking about and looking in windows, walking the ramparts:  me and dad, yes I got up there in my boot and crutch.  (the trick to climb a steep slope is to pretend you are on skis and sidestep your way up!)
And now for some photos:

Dad checking out the view

Karen and Mom walking down one of the village streets

Mom and Karen herding sheep