We hear sometimes jokes about the fact that the US don’t have history: “this country is too young!”. But the first settlers came here in 1620 and even if the US were historically born after the revolution, we could all agree and say that this country has still 5 centuries of history. In France, it was soon after the King Henri IV, so still a very long time ago. Anyway, we went to Plymouth in order to have a shot of American history. Plymouth is a small city in the south of Boston. This is where the settlers from the Mayflower landed.
Wampanoag tribe camp
We went first to the Plimoth Plantation, which is a sort of outdoor museum, close to the sea, with 2 villages: the Native American village, in the middle of the woods, and the English village, up to the hill behind a palissade (it’s funny to hear this very same word as the French one to say “fence”). The Native American are wearing traditional costumes and we can ask them questions about lifestyle, or anything. There’s a sign before the village asking to avoid stereotypes. I would have preferred a guided tour, we were just wandering in the middle of these people doing their own stuff.
The English village
The feeling in the village is quite different: the people are actors supposed to play the original settlers. They use a horrible oldish accent and talk about their lives as if they were stuck back in time. The brochure said that no need to try to trick them talking about the Eiffel Tower.
Plymouth today
