On old buildings in Acadia

If you ever wanted a quiet hotel to catch up on sleep, Château Albert is it. Removed as it is from the road and airports, the only source of noise is other guests and there aren’t that many of them. I slept nearly around the clock, though my sleep was interrupted by a series of complex, related and recurring nightmares that I will not go into.

After a disappointing “continental breakfast” buffet, I stashed my bags and bike at the hotel and walked to the start of the Village historique acadien visit. 

It began with a small one room house from the late 18th century with a floor of beaten earth. The interpreter, after having given most of the details of the owner’s life, warned us against thinking the man was poor. He wasn’t by the standards of the time and place. He had a lot of livestock which he sold to the English (i.e. British) soldiers of the area and made a pretty profit doing so.

The later buildings were from 19th and then 20th centuries. There was representational bias in portraying the Acadians as quite poor, possibly because of the buildings they could lay their hands on and possibly because they were poor. At one point I walked into a former general store from 1889 which consisted of small wooden building with two rooms. I found it hard to reconcile it with LeBaron’s, founded in 1888! I don’t when the main brick core of LeBaron’s was erected but I doubt it was ever that small.

There were a couple fancier 19th century homes including one with an indoor well, and another that was partially built of stone at behest of the owner who was a Scot. He held a number of official posts in local government.

The first 20th century building I visited was built from a kit ordered from Sears! I laughed on hearing that having ordered a book about such buildings for Alice for her birthday.

All through the visit, I had seen the shoe prints of a massive horse. As in, the diameter was about that between my pinky and my thumb when spread. Easily more than 6 inches. Coming out of the Sears building, I saw the flaxen chestnut creature placidly hauling a wagon with tourists in it. I had to laugh when I noticed that a man in the back was holding the handle of a kiddie wagon which was rolling along behind! I snapped a picture of the amusing scene as the man smiled at me clearly enjoying himself.

The last house was that of a tin smith whom the interpreter described as un patenteu or ingenious as he had to come up with solutions to the demands of the Acadians who, it seems, were delighted in all the things one could do with sheet metal. This was part of the 20th century portion of the visit. I got the feeling that the Industrial Revolution was something that for the Acadians had happened to other people.

I recovered my bags and Leonardo and headed off for Caraquet, arriving mid-afternoon. After visiting a few notable sights in town, I went to my hotel. There was a bit of back and forth via voicemail, text messages and a phone call to get me the necessary codes to get in, as the people running the place weren’t there, but thanks to 21st century technology, I was able to get into the Hotel Paulin. It is over a century old and thanks to the owner’s wife and son has a gourmet reputation. Or at least had. Between the pandemic and an ongoing kitchen renovation, they are not serving food. Thankfully, there are options other than Dixie Lee in Caraquet in August.