We've made it inside the fort! The Maison a Machicoulis is more simply referred to as the French Castle...next to which is the little Bakehouse, which was built in 1762. The French, American and British flags flap majestically in the soggy breeze.

A note about that white flag on the left. A white flag is of course universally recognized as a symbol of surrender, but in this case it represents royal France. From the early 17th century until 1794, a pure white flag or a white flag decorated with a rather vague fleur de lys represented France. White symbolized purity, and royal France was certainly nothing if not "pure."

The use of a white flag to represent truce, peace or surrender dates back to the Romans, however, so...when in a combat situation, how did the French signify that they wished to approach in peace, when every other nation would have used a white flag in such an instance? The easy joke in this case is to point out that France always wanted to surrender, so of course their flag was white (ha ha ha ha ha), but...that's a simplistic and dumb observation, so shame on you for thinking it.