Wednesday, July 23, 2008

La Fayette ship replica and Maritime Museum in Maine

This is a post that is a little off topic but was referred to me by a friend in Maubert, France. While on "vacance" he paid a visit to the construction site for the good ship Hermione. This is an historic reconstruction of the ship La Fayette sailed to America in support of the revolution. This ship is a massive undertaking using donated funds. The web site is beautifully done....and we hope to see the ship in Boston in the near future.

If you are a marine/naval history buff you will enjoy this site: http://www.hermione.com/en/

While we are on the topic I ought to suggest a visit to the Maine Maritime Museum is worth a visit as well. Their web site is at : http://www.mainemaritimemuseum.org/

A visit to Bath, Maine is a great opportunity to see a very special portion of the Maine coast.

A two day trip ought to include
Brunswick, Wiscasset,Boothbay, and Bath.
Check out the Maine Tourism page for mid-coast info: http://www.visitmaine.com/region/midcoast/


Their mid-coast pages
will give you the information you need for a wonderful trip.

If you are reading this in search of your Franco heritage you will want to check out Bowdoin College
a gift of a very wealthy Franco in Maine many years ago. Wonderful small museum on campus
http://www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum/ and a summer music theater on campus as well....
the Maine State Music Theater at:
http://www.msmt.org/



Monday, July 7, 2008

Champlain's travels on the New England Coast

This site has the full text of Champlain's reports to the king of France regarding discovery in Quebec and New England.  It makes fascinating reading because it is possible to visit many of the sites which are annotated for history buffs and travelers.


A special trip to the Saint Croix Island National Park Service site will give you a wonderful picture
of historical documentation and tours possible on this journey.

This year and 2009 mark anniversary celebrations for the founding of Quebec City and the discovery of Lake Champlain.
The Quebec Anniversary guide is here:


The Vermont/New York Celebration plans and events can be followed here:



Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The Champlain periplum

We will occupy the next few posts with a review of the Champlain periplum of the Northeast from Quebec City to Cape Cod with special stops at Saint Croix Island, Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine and up the Penobscot to Bangor......or Norumbega.

These posts will be interspersed with return to the source trips from New England back through Maine to Quebec and New Brunswick. A return to the source for many Franco-Americans.

You thoughts and comments are always welcome especially during this period when the blog will get a lot more specific about finding our roots in Maine and Quebec.

Come on up and trace your roots!!!

La Grande Traversee de l'Atlantique


"La Grande Traversée de l'Atlantique" has completed its journey to Quebec as of June 24th. If you remember our past entry about LaRochelle and the recreation of the voyage of settlers from Charente to Quebec you will be pleased to know that the voyage was completed on schedule. You can view the history of the voyage and some pictures of the welcome here:

http://www.grandetraversee400.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=10&Itemid=54

Le Retour aux Sources

A return to LaRochelle is scheduled for July 6 departure and a August 24 arrival in France. You may still be able to get a hammock below decks:


Fédération de Voile du Québec
4545 Pierre de Coubertin
CP 1000, Succ.M
Montréal (Québec) H1V3R2
Tél. (514) 252 3097
Fax (514) 252 3158
ras2008@retourauxsources.infoCet e-mail est protégé contre les robots collecteurs de mails, votre navigateur doit accepter le Javascript pour le voir
www.retourauxsources.info