Celebrating Champlain

At 7pm tonight, October 24th, at the Vergennes Opera House, is the film premiere of “Champlain - the Lake Between” by filmmaker Caro Thompson. Samuel de Champlain seems to be quite a celebrity these days here in Vermont but also in Quebec and in New York State. 400 years ago, when he traveled these regions, he probably did not imagine he would be so popular centuries later… As Quebec celebrates the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec city by Samuel de Champlain and as New York and Vermont prepare to celebrate the anniversary of the discovery of Lake Champlain by the French explorer next year, a lot is being written and discussed on this subject: conferences, movies and documentaries, books…
Tonight, Caro Thompson explores Samuel de Champlain’s legacy, the relationships between Natives and Europeans (the fur trade was essential to both the French and the Natives) and the history of the military forts (Lake Champlain was indeed a very strategic region at the time of New France). “The lake between” is the name native Americans had given to the lake… There will be a discussion with the filmmaker and reception. The documentary will also be broadcasted on Vermont Public Television, with a broadcast premiere on December 3, 2008, at 8pm.
More information at: Vergennes Opera House – Film premiere of “Champlain – The Lake Between”

In the past few weeks, there have been other events of interests, a recent conference in Vergennes on first contacts between Europeans and Natives, a presentation at Champlain College by the historian Willard Sterne Randall, TV programs on Quebec television, articles in Quebec newspapers and the New York Times… but if you missed them, you still have a chance to be part of this discovery experience.

Here are a few events to watch for:
- October 30 in Albany, Pulitzer prize winner David Hackett Fischer is presenting his new book: “Champlain’s Dream”. A superb book!
Details at: “Champlain’s Dream” – Book presentation
- July 2-5, 2009: Champlain College is organizing an international symposium called: “When the French were here”.
Details at: Champlain College – “When the French were here” – Conference
- And right here at Travel-Vermont.net, we are organizing a summer 2009 historic tour “When this land was called New France…” … 6 days of historic exploration of this beautiful region (Quebec, Vermont and New York State)… Samuel de Champlain’s explorations, the way French settlers lived here, the forts and military actions… in English or in French… In partnership with Ipswich Tours and History Traveler, the official travel organization of the History Channel, and one of the events of the Quadricentennial of Lake Champlain.
More details at: “When this land was called New France“.

Related articles:
- Middlebury College’s professor Christopher Shaw has canoed the path taken by Samuel de Champlain this summer.
Read his September 26 article in the New York Times: Champlain’s Shores
- In the Boston Globe, March 9, 2008: “Champlain was here” … on the exploration of the coast of New England, all the way down to Cape Cod
- In the Times Argus, March 16, 2008: “A bold arrival, an obscure end for French in Vermont”
- “Champlain names his lake”, a presentation by historian Willard Sterne Randall, from the Champlain College will air soon on Channel17 TownMeeting in streaming video. Check: Town Meeting Digital Television Conversion
- You can already see a presentation he did on Jacques Cartier and French explorers at: “Jacques Cartier and fool’s gold”
- The documentary “Facing Champlain, A Work in 3 Dimensions” by award-winning Quebec filmmaker Jean-François Pouliot can be seen at the Centre d’interprétation de Place-Royale in Quebec city
Details at: Centre d’interprétation de Place-Royale
- Map of Samuel de Champlain’s voyages
- Lake Champlain… New France

Most Popular Articles in September

Fall has arrived and with the beautiful foliage season here in Vermont some of our newest articles have quickly become very popular. So, if you have missed one of these, make sure to check them out!

1- Samuel de Champlain’s Voyages
2- Enjoy Vermont Foliage… Differently
3- Lake Champlain… New France
4- Brewpubs of Vermont
5- Who Makes the Best Maple Creemee?

Thanks for reading us this month!

Samuel de Champlain’s Voyages

On these years of celebrating Samuel de Champlain’s exploration of New France, many want to see a map of where he actually traveled. And because we could not find a good one on the internet, we have chosen to create one - a really nice and complete one! Why? you may ask. After all, we have the mission of bringing interesting news to travelers, and a map of Samuel de Champlain’s voyages looks more like history than travel! Well, the answer is that we will be talking a lot about Samuel de Champlain’s discovery of Lake Champlain next year, as Vermont will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the event. And we simply thought this was nice background information to launch the celebrations - here at Travel-Vermont.net!
It is actually amazing to realize how extensively Samuel de Champlain traveled in these regions from 1603 to 1636, 12 voyages all together… from Nova Scotia to Cape Cod and all the way west to Lake Ontario and Lake Huron! And in Vermont, may you ask? Well, Samuel de Champlain traveled down the Richelieu River to Lake Champlain in July 1609. He first landed on Isle La Motte, at the North of the lake and then traveled down all the way to either Crown Point or Ticonderoga (historians are not sure), where he fought against the Iroquois, at the end of July 1609. Later, the surroundings of the lake would see French settlements… but that’s another story!
To see the full size map, click here.
And if you are interested in the history of this region and period, see our Summer 2009 Historic Tour, “When this land was called New France” - a 6-day historic tour to Quebec City, the Richelieu River and Lake Champlain (Vermont/NY) and discover 150 years of little-known history!
You can also learn more about the first contacts between native Americans and Europeans, by attending the September 25th 2008 conference on this subject, at the Vergennes Opera House.

Related posts:
Celebrating Champlain
Lake Champlain… New France

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

Weekly Quiz: Where are we?

This is our new Friday feature! Every week, we’ll put your knowledge of Vermont to the test. And we hope you’ll have fun with it. We’ll keep track of the number of right answers you each get and on July 4th, 2009, Independence Day but also the day when (most) people believe that Samuel de Champlain discovered Lake Champlain - that’s another story - we will announce the winner. The prize? A mug with the logo of our cute cow!
So, here are the clues for our first weekly quiz:
- This building is in the western part of the state, not far from Lake Champlain,
- It is actually at the corner of the road which leads to one of Vermont State Historic Sites,
- We are not experts in stone, but it seems made of limestone,
- The building is dated 1829,
- And for a bonus point… the 4 side-by-side windows are giving us a clue about its past use and indicates that it has been renovated in the 1920s or 1930s. Such windows can be seen on a number of buildings throughout the state - when you learn to watch for them - most of them now converted to other uses. So… what was the previous function of this building?
And now… good luck to all of you! The answer will be shared in our next Weekly Quiz.
Click here to log in your answer as a Comment!

French Heritage Days - July 11-12

The French Heritage Days starts on Friday night, July 11, from 6 to 9PM, in Vergennes, with the Veillée, a traditional French Canadian supper and traditional music and dance with the Club Carrefour, from Quebec. That should be so much fun! Everything we dream of for a traditional French Canadian supper is on the menu for sure… “French onion soup, pea soup, tourtiere (traditional meat pie), chicken pie, sheppard pie, apple pie, blueberry pie, tarte au sucre (sugar pie)”… that was the list Marguerite, the organizer of the event gave me… Carbs count? You got to forget about those for one night for sure!… afterall, the hard-working farmers in the harsh winters of Quebec really needed these calories… but it should be delicious…
Then, on Saturday July 12th, a number of events and activities are taking place in various Vergennes locations to be enjoyed by the whole family: reenactors of French soldiers, French Voyager, Comte de Vergennes, and Samuel de Champlain, fencing demonstrations, story tellers, waiter’s race, etc. … and lots of music (fiddle and accordion)!
As you can see, Samuel de Champlain is already a star this year at the French Heritage Days, even though the 400th anniversary celebration of his discovery of Lake Champlain is only next year: there will be a lecture by Julie Dowd, “They Walked with Champlain” at the library and a Samuel de Champlain historical interpretation at the bandstand.
And last but not least, the Vermont French Canadian Genealogical Society will be there to help you trace back your French-Canadian ancestors, if your name happens to be Sénécal, Gagné or Gagnon! And on that subject, I need to open a little parenthesis for those of you interested in tracing back your ancestors to France. I came accross this France Guide website yesterday, which has a free ancestry search tool to just do that: simply type your name and it will give you the names of French ancestors who came to North-America! You can click here to access the free ancestry search tool. Nice, no?
Well, to conclude… we have not attended this event before, so we don’t know how well attended it is and what its ”quality” is, but we’ll be there on Saturday for sure (too bad we cannot make it Friday night!).
What we know though is that it seems to attract more people every year and it has also been chosen as the “signature event” of the summer celebrations for the 400th anniversary of Lake Champlain next year.
So, if you drop by, make sure to tell us what you thought!

Schedule for the French Heritage Days in Vermont - July 11-12, 2008