Grand Pre is the place where the British expelled the Acadians. The origian village was torched after the expulsion but a memorial church* and information centre is on the site. Very cool. The engineering feats of the Acadians are documented -- how they reclaimed thousands of hectares from the sea to make arable land -- and the story of the expulsion, of course.
Again, nothing to feel proud of but interesting to connect to a different history in my new back yard. Even more cool, that there was a cat named Evangeline sleeping in the sunbeams streaming through the windows of the church. I'm profoundly ambivalent about the name "Thibault" (without an "e") appearing on the roll of the 100-odd family names of the expelled. My kin are Glaswegian, but it would be cool too to be of Acadian descent.
What can I say, romance is in my soul. ;-)
Cheers
*I sort of thought that it was cool that the grounds around the church were geometrically designed. Very French. Not sure if the Acadians were hip to the Sun King's predilection for divine order, but it felt more right than a pseudo-rustic English country garden. So I didn't ask about the arcitectural choices made in the design of the monument. Best to let sleeping cats lie, if they won't tell the absolute truth.
