Explore Eastern Canada - Acadian New Brunswick
French Canadian Culture on the Atlantic Coast of North America
Apr 10, 2007
Today the north-east coast of New Brunswick is known as the Acadian Coast. It is lined with French-speaking villages, many of which make their living from fishing. You’ll see the Acadian Flag everywhere (red, white and blue like the French flag, with the addition of the yellow star of Independence). It is painted on mail boxes, telegraph poles and even lobster pots.
Canada - New Brunswick - The Acadian Coast
Lobsters play a big part in the economy of the region and the village of Shediac is home to the annual lobster festival in July. Eating lobster here is as common as eating fish and chips in England. They sell lobster sandwiches, lobster burgers, and even lobster pizza! Shediac has the warmest water on the coast and some fine beaches.
Cap Pelé also has good beaches but is better known locally for Fred’s Restaurant, famous in the area for its deep fried clams - you eat them from a bag, like chips.
New Brunswick - La Dune de Bouctouche.
Just a little further up the coast is Cocagne, known for its delicious oysters, and Bouctouche has a wonderful eco-centre, La Dune de Bouctouche. It was developed to preserve one of the few remaining great sand dunes in North America. The Acadians saw Bouctouche as a safe harbour and as a future commercial port in their new Acadia. The white sand dune stretches 12km across Bouctouche Bay and has remained virtually unchanged since the glaciers melted. It’s a haven for wildlife and there’s a 2km boardwalk which winds across the dune like a giant snake, from which visitors can observe the wildlife without encroaching on this sensitive area.
New Brunswick - Caraquet
Carry on further north and you’ll come to the Acadian Peninsula which stretches all around the coast from Chatham to Bathurst. Caraquet is the oldest of the Acadian villages and is the centre for the peninsula’s French community. There’s an Acadian museum in the middle of town.
Just 14 km west of Caraquet is a much better museum - the Acadian Historic Village which is set up like an 18th century village, with workers in period costumes reflecting the kind of life the Acadians lead over two hundred years ago. There are many more villages to explore and much more to find out about the Acadians.
New Brunswick - Grand Pré
Today the Atlantic Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are the new Acadia. History came full circle when, on May 9, 1998, the descendents of the original Acadians gathered in the church of Grand Pré on the same site from which their ancestors were exiled. They were there to celebrate as the Canadian Government returned the site to the Acadian people. They were deported, they returned, and they are here to stay.
Pocket History of Atlantic Canada
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