They were caught between two great powers in the 18th century, and so the French Acadians of Grand Pré fell on the wrong side of history. The French settlers had constructed dykes to improve farmland along the coast of the Bay of Fundy, and established trade ties with the British to sell their agricultural bounty. Nevertheless, the Acadians were unwilling to cut ties to the French, and were thus unceremoniously rounded up and exiled from the land they had built. I was familiar with the story of the Acadian diaspora from history classes in school, but it became much easier to envision after visiting the museum at the Canadian national historic site at Grand Pré in September 2017. The museum includes a film about the deportation, while the nearby memorial church displays artifacts and stories from the settlers. I climbed the trail above the site to a lookout (with the World Heritage plaque) in order to view the rich farmland left behind after the British expelled the settlers and burned their villages; the tranquil setting today belies the tragic history. A cross in nearby Hortonville commemorates the Acadian deportation, but Nova Scotia's loss was a gain for the United States, as many of them moved to Louisiana and created a distinctive Cajun culture.

Logistics: Grand Pré is about an hour northwest of Halifax, and can be reached by private transportation; once there, the museum, church, and lookout at the national historic site are all connected by footpaths.