After arriving at New Orleans airport, we drove a southern route to Morgan City and Avery Island. Avery Island is the home of Tabasco Sauce (it's still made there) and the original sauce creator lived there and built up a large garden area near his home. We visited the gardens. Later we drove to Lafayette and went to a nearby village called Breaux Bridge, where we went into the swamp at Lake Martin. Lafayette and the country around it was home to the original Acadians - French Canadians exiled from Nova Scotia. The accordion (above) was brought to Louisiana by Acadians. Acadians also became known as Cajuns (a slang term for them, as they were often treated poorly by other people (mostly Europeans living in Louisiana who were more affluent). Most people in this part of the State still speak French.
We drove a route more to the North to an area an hour outside New Orleans where many of the biggest plantations were established along the Mississippi River. Visiting two of the plantations, we learned a lot about life in this part of Louisiana before the civil war. We also learned a bit about how life changed after the civil war. Then we returned to New Orleans to bring in the New Year with fireworks over the Mississippi River and Jackson Square and to enjoy the city and it's music.
We drove a route more to the North to an area an hour outside New Orleans where many of the biggest plantations were established along the Mississippi River. Visiting two of the plantations, we learned a lot about life in this part of Louisiana before the civil war. We also learned a bit about how life changed after the civil war. Then we returned to New Orleans to bring in the New Year with fireworks over the Mississippi River and Jackson Square and to enjoy the city and it's music.
The photos above, from Lafayette, represent the houses and lives of early Acadia. After the civil war, Louisiana tried to teach the children in the Acadian areas to speak English (hence the classroom photo asking students not to speak French). The effort was not very successful.
New Orleans
City of Music
City of Music