Visited 20JUL 2018

This site is in a marshland area on the south shore of the Bay of Fundy, close to Wolfeville, being pleasant and historic and would be a good place to stay nearby. 

 The Visitor Centre at Grand Pré is impressive, especially its multimedia exhibits of the brilliant diking systems of the Acadians and in-depth explanations of their cruel expulsion by the British from the lands they worked so hard to tame from the sea. 

Caught between French and British power struggles, around 10,000 Acadians were eventually put on ships and taken to other colonies, many winding up in Louisiana in the US, but some of whom found their way back to their cherished homeland.  The visitor centre also depicts the way Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made this shameful part of history well known by penning his epic poem “Evangeline.” 

There is a pleasant walk along beautiful grounds to see the Statue of Evangeline, a re-built church dedicated to the memory of the Acadians, and a rustic blacksmith shop.  Atop a hill, overlooking the Sea is a panoramic vista of the Acadian farmlands.  The UNESCO plaque is also to be found there. 

Inside the church were some paintings with lines from the poem, “Evangeline”, which were moving.  In fact, this whole site was touching and brought to mind one of the many examples of man’s inhumanity in our sad history.