With no car parks, modern trappings or souvenir stores anywhere en route the bus ride effectively transported us back to the 18th Century.
This was the time period when Louisbourg thrived as a French fortified town and it's to this time period that the site has been restored.
In fact, Louisbourg is the largest reconstructed site in North America and yet even so, there are still large tracts that sit in ruins beyond the extensive streetscape rebuilt.
The authenticity is calculated, even down to the fact that our serving wench at lunch didn't know what our camera was (having never seen one before) and so was unable to take a photo for us (not being aware of how to operate such a thing).
Speaking of lunch, we ate at the working-class restaurant on site, as opposed to the upper-class restaurant serving three courses.
With cotton napkins tied around our necks and one spoon each we consumed typical peasants' food of the time (bread with mussels or soup), though we joked later that it was food for peasants at four-star prices.
The regimentality of life at the fortress was laid out bare in the many exhibits and in the wonderful, personal discussions we (and the kids) had with the uniformed soldiers going about their daily business who patiently answered all of our questions, in character.
In fact, the costumed fishermen, townspeople and soldiers roaming the site and thoroughly embracing their roles gave Louisbourg a 'living' feeling rather than a 'historic' one.
That feeling even extended to costumed children accompanying their parents, along with geese and other farm animals being tended to by their farmers.
We really enjoyed watching the firing of the cannons, the public punishment of the drunkard and the regimental musicians at work.
The kids were treated to a Fairytale Performance which they loved and they had fun in a playroom where they could wear hats and fire wooden guns and build a fort of their own.
With Louisbourg Harbour sparkling beyond the fortress walls and with only the occasional gusts of wind whipping up the dirt off the paths, it was an incredibly enjoyable day for all of us.
