Taken 2008 June 18 in Fourchu from the South Fourchu Road
on the rocks east of its end 1.6 km (1 mi) from the Fleur-de-Lis Trail
GPS 45°43.00?'N 60°14.23?'W
This view to the southeast was taken from the shore across the bay from Fourchu Head formed by the breakwater/causeway where I sat on a rock for several minutes, mesmerized by the breaking waves coming in and crashing on the rocks in front of me. Not that there was anything particularly unusual about this entrancing scene—on the contrary, one of the many attractions of Cape Breton is its closeness to the sea everywhere one goes and I have literally dozens of shore photos from many different places around the Island. It was just that the day was so perfect, the opportunity directly at hand, and my mood one which wanted to linger…
Among the random thoughts that occurred to me at that time was the question of where one would end up, assuming one could cross the ocean in a straight line to the east from here. I didn’t know for sure at the time, but have since determined that, since Fourchu Head lies at 45° 43' North latitude, it would be slightly to the north of Royan at 45° 37', on the French coast at the point the Garonne empties into the Atlantic north of Bordeaux. (To the west, Montréal lies at 45° 31', somewhat further south than Fourchu.)
While preparing this essay, I also learnt here that on 1967 February 25 the Iceland II, a 62-ton Italian-owned Canadian-registered trawler ran aground in Bear Cove, which is close by to the south and west of Fourchu Head (to the right of this scene and outside its scope), with the loss of ten lives. According to this web site (again courtesy of the Wayback Machine archive), a walk along the shore will eventually lead to the rusted hulk of this shipwreck.