Monday 19 June

A passer-by on the wharf (actually, you dont pass by, you actively come and see what's up) tells us there's a Mom and Pop cafe opposite and we go and have breakfast there. Mom is super - very talkative and full of what we can do here - the fortress, the lighthouse - and all within 5 minutes of where we are. So, after breakfast, we stroll along the high street, looking at the thoughtfully provided map of Louisbourg. This is quite a sad place - fishing's gone, all but lobster and crab from the bay - and there isn't much else to take its place. Tourists are few this spring, what with the dollar exchange rate being unfavourable. There are plenty of RV (campervans) parks, but they are virtually empty. There is little or no traffic on the main road - I walk in the middle and only look out of habit. It's a bit forlorn, though everyone seems to be trying to make it all work. Mom in the cafe told us there are about 30 houses for sale - people moving west. And this is a small place. I like it - painted clapboard again, but shabby, old uncut dandelions in the unmown grass down by the waterfront deck.