A monument and plaque in a small park along a busy stretch of highway in Halifax, N.S., mark the centuries-old burial place for as many as 2,000 French soldiers and sailors.

Most people driving past on the Bedford Highway wouldn't be aware that the quiet patch of roadside parkland was once the final stop in a transatlantic ordeal that unravelled long before it reached these shores.

"They don't realize what they're passing by and passing over," said John Boileau, chair of the Halifax Military Heri…