Lake Champlain… New France

Are you surprised to see Lake Champlain associated with New France? Well, Lake Champlain was indeed part of New France for more than 150 years. And this week-end, Travel-Vermont.net was discovering what is left of such a heritage - in preparation of our Summer 2009 historic tour “When this land was called New France“.
As the 400th anniversary of Lake Champlain and its discovery by Samuel de Champlain in 1609 approach, we thought it was a good time to make such a voyage into the past.
Such trip took us all around Lake Champlain, on both the Vermont and the New York sides of the lake and all the way North into the Richelieu River, in Quebec.
The story starts in Isle La Motte, where Samuel de Champlain is said to have put foot in early July 1609.  (At the end of July, he would fight the Iroquois in the area of Ticonderoga). On Isle La Motte, you can see one of the statues of Samuel de Champlain, with his Indian traveler companion. You will also learn that Isle La Motte is actually the first European settlement in Vermont (we did not know!)… a French settlement naturally, as Captain Pierre La Motte and its Carignan-Salieres regiment built Fort Sainte-Anne there in 1666.
Today, there is no trace of the wooden fort of Fort Sainte-Anne but the site is a nice place for a picnic… with grass, trees and a nice view of the lake… and definitely a superb place for a wedding, with its outdoors church (St-Anne’s Shrine)… what a setting!
At time passed, the French moved down the lake and built various forts to protect themselves (and their fur trade in Montreal) against the Indians first and then the British from the South.
At Crown Point (on the New York side, but accessible by a bridge from Chimney Point, VT), you can still see the ruins of the first stone fort built by the French (1731) which they called Fort Saint-Frederic. You will also see the ruins of the larger British fort of Crown Point, built later, with the British flag still standing high in the sky. Once again, a very nice setting with a great dominating view of the lake. Crossing the bridge to Chimney Point, you’ll also learn about the French settlements there at the first half of the 18th century.
As we drive down the lake on the New York side, you’ll come across Fort Ticonderoga, majestic stone star-shape fort with a rich history from the time of the French and Indian War (mid-1700s) and the American Revolution. Built by the French in 1755-1757, they had named it Fort Carillon. Its star-shape is highly characteristic of French military architecture of the time, and you may have seen other examples of it if you visited La Citadelle (1820) in Quebec City, Fort McHenry (1796-1803) in Baltimore or Fort Warren (1833) on George’s Island in Boston harbor. They are all designed according to a defense system developed by a 17th century French military engineer named Sébastien de Vauban.
Fort Ticonderoga definitely saw a lot of military action, captured successively by the British, the Americans (Ethan Allen and its Green Mountain Boys) and again by the British. Allow two to three hours for a visit and take the ferry to admire a great view of the fort, from the hills of Mount Independence historic site.
Our trip was not over yet, and the next day we discovered the 1750 Fort Chambly in Quebec, remarkably renovated and with a spectacular exhibit on the history of the whole region all the way from Quebec City to Albany, NY. But that will be for one of our upcoming articles!

More information:
- The characteristics and advantages of Vauban’s fort designs
- Fort Ticonderoga site
- Crown Point site
- Fort Chambly site

Related posts:
- Sunset on Historic Chimney Point
- Mount Independence Reenactment
- Samuel de Champlain’s Voyages
- Celebrating Champlain

Things to do in Vermont - August 1-3

New this week!
• 5th Annual Vermont Lakes Region Cycling Weekend – It’s both Saturday and Sunday and seems like a really nice event for cyclers. They are 13 rides to choose from, from rolling to hilly terrain, and from 19 to 65 miles in length – on paved, scenic, rural roads. The small groups of cyclists gather at Green Mountain College in Poultney. And for all the rides, they are given detailed maps and clues, and are accompanied by an experienced leader. And to make it even more attractive, some rides lead to interesting cultural or historic places, such as the Slate Valley Museum, Fort Ticonderoga (on the NY side) or Hubbardton Battlefield. Accommodations are available.
More information at: www.cyclingvermont.org
Related Post: Battle of Hubbardton Reenactment
• 3rd Annual Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival - Sunday August 3, in Burlington, at the Waterfront Park, from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm – The traditional Chinese Dragon Boats are competing! Teams of 20 paddlers (and a drummer) in 40-feet boats. Definitely a popular event, as the registration for participants is already full! And it’s a fund-raising event for Breast Cancer. We’ll be there!
More information at: Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival
• 2008 Pipers’ Gathering, Killington – sounds like a very serious gathering of pipers with workshops and group instructions during the 2 days, but for the general public, those of you who like such music, it’s also the chance to listen to “some of the best pipers” in the world (say the organizers) in 2 concerts Saturday night August 2 and Sunday night August 3 at 7:30PM.
More information at: www.pipersgathering.org
• The President Calvin Coolidge Homestead is always a nice place for a relaxing time, when the weather is nice and they do have some additional attractions on Saturday August 2 (Plymouth Old Home Day, including a chicken BBQ) and Sunday August 3 (piano concerts at 3PM).
Related post: President Calvin Coolidge House 
• At Mount Independence Historic Site, a great place for some day hikes, it’s a “Hike into History” on Sunday August 3, at 2PM, where you can hike the Orange Trail and the Blue Trail and learn from Steve Zeoli what happened there in 1776 and 1777 during the American Revolution. You can also bring a picnic and/or hike the flat, easy Baldwin Trail (green trail) which just won the 2008 Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) Leadership in History Awards (quite a mouth full!), the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. And indeed, the signage on the trail is superb!
Related post: Day Hike: Mount Independence
• Champlain Valley Folk Festival – August 1-3 – at the Kingsland Bay State Park – celebrating its 25 years - We suspect it is probably a casual event… in the State Park… but there are still an impressive number of artists appearing over the 3 days (35 on the program we saw!)… so if you enjoy folk music, I hope you enjoy it.
More information at: www.cvfest.org
Directions: Take Route 7 to Ferrisburgh. From the center of Ferrisburgh, take Little Chicago Road west toward the lake. Turn right on Hawkins Road and continue for 4 miles to the Festival Entrance.
• And finally, as surprising as it may be, Les Miserables musical is playing in Vermont… from July 31 to August 23 in Weston. We’ll try to go and check this production in the next few weeks and tell you what we thought. We are not expecting the kind of production you can see in New York or London, but we’ll see…
More information at: www.westonplayhouse.org

And for continuing events:
- Vermont Mozart Festival. It’s your last chance to attend one of its outdoors concerts in a place with beautiful scenery: Friday night August 1, at Shelburne Farms, and Saturday August 2 and Sunday August 3 the 2 “finale” concerts at Shelburne Farms and Stowe. We are planning to attend one of them… and praying for sunny weather;
And don’t forget the concert for kids at Teddy Bear Company Factory, in Shelburne, on Sunday. See our Event Calendar for the complete schedule.
Related posts:
Grande Isle Magic… and Jazz
Vermont Mozart Festival: Schedule
Vermont Mozart Festival: Grand Opening
- Vermont Summer Festival Horseshow – 4th week-end of competition at East Dorset; Photographers: remember you can participate to a digital photography contest (see previous posting);
Related post: Vermont Summer Festival Horseshow
- And more chamber music at Marlboro Music, Marlboro College – Friday August 1 and Saturday August 2 at 8:30PM and Sunday afternoon August 3 at 2:30PM – We were there last week-end and the concert was delightful. It is worth the drive there and you can find nice romantic inns to stay at, in the area. Time Magazine says it’s “the most exciting chamber music in the U.S.”, the NY Times says “extraordinary rising stars and musical legends play side-by-side”.
More information at: Marlboro Music
Also, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment on one of these events if you have a chance to attend!

Fun Things to Do in Vermont

There are lots of fun things to do in Vermont in the summer. Here is for starters:
- Go to one of the 89 swimming holes - ponds and rivers - listed on this website. Make sure to watch their slideshow, it gives you a great idea of the look of the different places (names are on the photos). Great for a hot day!
- Go to one of many outdoor concerts of the Vermont Mozart Festival or the Lake Champlain Bluegrass Festival;
- Watch antique cars at the 51st Annual Antique & Classic Car Meet, in Stowe on August 8-10;
- Eat a maple cremee: you got to have one if you are in Vermont in the summer… Make sure you get the ones made with real maple syrup and not just the flavor! We’ll give you some addresses soon, but for now, let’s mention Morse Farm, up County Road, near Montpelier, that’s the place everyone knows;
- Go to the Harpoon Brewery BBQ competition in Windsor on July 26-27; 40 teams from all the country will compete!
- Get a Vermont Brewery Challenge - Official Passport and visit all 18 great micro-breweries in the state of Vermont; Get a stamp at each and you can win prizes!
- Go and watch the Challenge Race at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, near Vergennes on July 20; it’s a 3-mile race of around 50 small boats. Should be fun. Around 200 spectators usually attend. And may be even more fun, on Saturday 19 (today!) there is a duct tape boat construction and race there!
- Attend your first Thunder Road night in Barre (not NASCAR racing but close!) - every Thursday and occasionally on week-ends;
- And if you are into American Revolution history, go to one of the reenactments/encampments which take place at different historic sites along the summer: the Battle of Hubbardton early July, Mount Independence encampment this week-end, Bennington in August…
What do you think? Fun enough?… Anything fun we should add to this list, leave us a comment and tell us about it!!

Day Hike: Mount Independence

Mount Independence which is also known as Fort Independence is a wonderful hiking opportunity as well as a pleasant walk for those less eager to tackle the 400 feet of decent and re-ascent to the shore of the lake. There are some easy trails with great historic signage and a couple of true day hiking 3-mile long trails. There are also great views of the New York side of Lake Champlain and Fort Ticonderoga.
The top of the mount is where the traditional star shaped fort, hospital, and some of the living quarters were located. This area is all very accessible by almost completely flat walking after rising about 50 feet, gently, from the back of the museum. It is a well-maintained crushed slate and can be walked in sandels… Don’t miss the 0.25 mile spur out to the cannon emplacement which has a dramatic view across the lake of Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Defiance as well as a great vantage point to visualize the bridge which once existed across the lake. We also really enjoyed visualizing the hospital from the well preserved foundation and reading the historic descriptions of the various points of interest. It is very well done.
The other trails all take you down the mount to the lake shore and back up. It is a fascinating “easy” hike by hiking standards but it is no longer a crushed slate walkway. Its typical “Long Trail” style path but with the addition of marked points along the way where vistas or artifacts of the fort remain. One of the best spots is at the end (aren’t they usually?) where the bridge connected across the lake and you can now look “up” and across to Fort Ticonderoga and visualize the way it may have been back in 1776 – 1777. There is a monument and very pleasant picnicking area just up from that spot about 100 yards where the first cannon emplacements were once located.
Our “hike” which included the full circle of the walking tour on the top last about 2 ½ hours and was broken up with many minutes of enjoying locations and reading about the object or site that we were viewing. I would recommend this hike/walk for families since there is so many times that the “next thing” is just a few minutes away and should keep the kids very interested for the 2 – 3 hours. Also, anyone capable of rising the 50 feet to the circular path on top should not be intimidated with that walk (maybe 45 mins at a leisurely pace) as it is essentially “flat as a pancake” up there.
You are truly hiking into history. Enjoy!
The official website of the Mount Independence State Historic Site.

Mount Independence - Reenactment

 This weekend, July 19 – 20, is the Mount Independence Encampment and Re-Enactment “Soldiers Atop the Mount”. If you haven’t been to one of these before, don’t miss it. You can walk through the American and British camps, see the reenactors in action, watch them execute some military tactics and artillery demonstrations, listen to a couple of concerts (a short concert by Seth Warner Mount Independence Fife and Drum Corps on Saturday afternoon at 2:15 pm or the professional brass quintet Brass Connection on Saturday night at 7 pm, for Dixieland, swing and Broadway tunes). And if you enjoy walks and hikes, check out our upcoming posting on the trails we hiked there a few weekends ago. The new Baldwin Trail is particularly remarkable. It now has great interpretive signs along its 1.6-mile route (it even got an award for it recently!). It is wonderful.
This event is really a continuation of the wonderful Hubbardton Battlefield reenactment which we attended on July 5 -6. While no “field battle” actually occurred on Mount Independence (since the fort was abandoned during the action starting with the capture by the British of Fort Ticonderoga on July 5-6, and culminating with the Hubbardton battle mentioned above), the fort is a fascinating story.
The fort was built as an enhancement to the French-built Fort Ticonderoga by the US revolutionary army. The encampment and cannons were impressive and the fort design really interesting. The encampment this weekend will not only provide real life portrayal of the camp life as it would have been in 1776 – 1777 but will also include some artillery demonstrations, including probably some cannon firing demonstrations (if they get the cannon), just like the action the fort saw during the American Revolution war. Such action did not take place early July 1777, as we all know that the fort was abandoned at that time, but later that fall of 1777 when the Americans tried to recapture the fort from the British. There was cannon bombardment from the lake and across the lake from New York State as well as return fire from the British, probably using US cannons.
Major General David Bernier will be providing a wonderful narration of military tactics as well as the story of the abandonment of Fort Ticonderoga across the lake by the Americans, fleeing across the bridge between the two forts (did you know that this bridge ever existed? I didn’t), and the “botched” mid-night escape of the Mount Independence fort. Discussion of the range and strategy of the cannon fire of the period will also be discussed as only the Major General can do. Hope you enjoy it!
The official site of Mount Independence State Historic Site.

Battle of Hubbardton - Reenactment

July 5-6th week-end is this year’s date for the reenactment of the American Revolution Battle of Hubbardton. Every year, some 300 to 400 reenactors spend the week-end in these fields around the Hubbardton State Historic Site,  to reenact the only battle of the American Revolution which took place in Vermont. Every 5 years, there are even more people coming, around 1000, to commemorate the battle (next time should be in 2012 for the 235th anniversary of the battle). When did the battle take place? July 7, 1777. What happened then? The British who just came from Fort Ticonderoga, NY and Mount Independence, VT fought the American troops, the famous Green Mountain Boys. The battle was short on this early morning of July 7, 1777… approximately 2 hours, from 8AM to 10AM and the American troops had to withdraw, but the British losses were high. It is said that it was the “beginning of the end” for the British General Burgoyne! So for the pleasure of both the reenactors and the visitors, adults and children, every year, the battle is being replayed. This is what Carl Fuller, site interpreter at Hubbardton Historic Site is sharing with us about this wonderful event: “The reenactors themselves have told me many times they love it because they are allowed to camp in the same fields and portray the battle on the same fields where it actually happened.  They like the idea of having the room to do this portrayal without being stuck in a small area between buildings or off somewhere where people can’t find them.
Reenactors come from all over New England, New York and sometimes Canada.  Once they arrive at Hubbardton and even though they may not have been here before everything seems to fall into place.  Camps are set up and everything becomes 18th century.  Everyone remains in costume the entire weekend, eating, sleeping and fighting as they would have in the year 1777.  Some of the reenactors have found ancestors who took part in the battle of Hubbardton and for this weekend they become that person.
On this weekend, you may see American, British, German and Native American camps.  During the day, tours are given through these camps by the reenactors themselves.  Children are taught drilling and marching and told about other things children did to help out around camp.  The women in the camps show people what they did as part of the camplife.  Sometimes, prisoners are taken and court-martials are done.  Tours of the battlefield are done throughout the weekend.  Narrated tacticals are done on both days with the big reenactment on Sunday morning at 8 AM.  There are even sutlers selling their wares.  There is something here to see and do for all ages.
Make no mistake, this is hallowed ground but weren’t these people fighting to allow us to do what we do today.  We honor them by doing these portrayals.  Our freedom was won by many battles such as this one and in numbers participating it may be considered small but it was an important stepping stone in determining the British downfall in the northern colonies during the American Revolution.” Hope you will join us there!

Schedule for Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th
Post-event: Check a selection of our photos of the Battle of Hubbardton Reenactment - July 6, 2008
More on Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Site

Vermont State Historic Sites - Free!

Illustration copyright - Sarah Dillard

Something to write down in your agenda: this week-end, June 14th and 15th, all the Vermont State Historic Sites and the Vermont Historical Society Museum offer free admission. Isn’t it the perfect excuse for a great road trip through the wonderful Vermont countryside? Weather should be collaborating: warm with just some isolated thunderstorms…Come on, get out, enjoy the sun and the fresh air, and take one of these wonderful scenic drives up and down the green Vermont hills (there are so many of them!)… President Coolidge House, the old Constitution House, Chimney Point, Mount Independence, and the other sites will be all waiting for your visit. State Parks are also free… with free ice cream! And on Saturday, it’s also free fishing.
So, if you see a little blue VW Cabrio driving around, it might be us… we’ll definitely be going from place to place! And we will report on our favorite visits next week… Psst! Don’t forget to tell us which was YOUR favorite place!
For a complete list of the Vermont State Historic Sites, visit: www.historicvermont.org/sites.