Iversen wrote:I stuck to the Northern coast of Nouveau-Brunswick, where the auld Francophone Acadians still dominate - and maybe I found the dialect of the guide at the Village so interesting because he actually spoke Acadian and/or Chiac, Ah dunno - but I'm quite good at grasping things which I haven't actually studied. Further South people were brutally exiled to Louisiana if they refused to bow to the Brits and their king, and the place ended up as one more Anglophone area under the name of New Brunswick.
I have also visited Louisiana, and the only person I met there who could speak French had learned it as an adult, so maybe the cooking survived, but you probably have to venture far out in the Bayou to meet any native speakers of French.
Thanks for the photo and map. The image shows a scene that's quite familiar to me. It looks very Quebec, with the wooden barrels and the big fireplace.
I've been to New Brunswick many times, although mostly on my way to Nova Scotia. I've never been to the northern parts, though. I'm envious that you were able to understand the Acadian/Chiac speaker. I'd love to get inside your mind and discover how to become good at grasping things I haven't studied. The number of languages you speak is phenomenal, and here I am, having difficulty learning one. I'll have to go and mine your log, looking for tips.
"The expulsion of the Acadians," also known as "The Great Upheaval," was a very dark and shameful time in our history. The cruelty was beyond measure. Of those who made it to safety in the southern US states, it seems as though most weren't able to maintain their unique culture and thus became part of the great melting pot. As you say, you probably have to go into the Bayou to find native French speakers. It's very sad. There's a song by Daniel Lanois called "The Maker," from his album "Acadie." It always makes me feel like he's singing about them and about those who feel as though they're not accepted in the place where they were born. Comme moi, par exemple. It makes me cry every time I hear it. You can see a video of it here. There's a little blurb that mentions that it was recorded in New Orleans. The actual video is on the right, not the one on the top left.
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/daniel-lanois/the-makerNote: the blurb on that site mentions biblical imagery: the fields of Abraham, etc. Lanois was probably referencing The Plains of Abraham, the battlefields where the British defeated the French near Quebec City. The site belonged to a man named Abraham. Every Quebec schoolchild learns about this battle. As far as I know, it's not a biblical reference, although I could be wrong. And it could be both, now that I'm thinking about it.