A Cape Breton coffee shop is serving up a treasure trove of memorabilia showcasing the area’s Acadian culture.
From the outside it looks like a run-of-the-mill gas station, but inside it’s much more. Customers are greeted at a front counter made into a replica ship – modeled after a vessel sailed by the owner’s grandfather nearly 80 years ago.
“We really wanted to develop a tourism product that spoke truly to a depiction of what our heritage and culture means,” said Lisa Boudreau, owner of La Goelette a Pepe in Arichat, N.S.
“It instills a pride to the region, so it means that we can come out with a product that people will find interesting.”
Boudreau says the shop is a labour of love and a visual tribute to Isle Madame’s rich Acadian history.
“It really brings out the richness of the culture here on Isle Madame, which is really an unknown treasure, and finally we’re starting to dig it up a little bit,” said area historian Gabriel LeBlanc.
The newest section of the shop, which opened this month, is a cozy lounge called the “Chambre des Sobriquets.” A sobriquet is a family nickname and photos on the wall offer customers a lesson in local lineage.
“For example, the Boudreau family may have had eight different family lines and they were individually marked with a sobriquet or nickname that spoke to a certain character,” said Boudreau.
While customers like Julie Kirkpatrick are coming in for the coffee, Boudreau says they are sticking around for the stories and a history lesson.
“We’ve been here about two hours now and we’ve been hearing all sorts of stories, all sorts of things about the history of the island that we hadn’t heard before,” said Kirkpatrick.
“The history is so rich, so to have a place like this where people can come and hear about it, it’s really wonderful.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ryan MacDonald
