Cajun Country, made up of 22 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes, is a lush landscape of woods, swamps, and fields of rice and sugarcane.  This southwestern corner of the state is the home of the friendly and fun-loving descendants of the Acadians.  There were a French-speaking, Catholic people who were brutally expelled by the British from Nova Scotia in 1755 and found sanctuary in what was then French speaking Louisiana.  In the early 1900s, Louisiana authorities tried to suppress Cajun culture, banning the use of French in schools.  In recent decades, the Cajuns have repossessed their heritage and display an obvious pride in their culture and cuisine. 

Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) celebrations are traditionally dated to medieval Europe, but their roots are believed to go all the way back to ancient pagan festivals. Today, Mardi Gras celebrations in Louisiana trace their heritage to campfire revelries held by French explorers back in 1699. By 1800, in towns all along the Gulf Coast, celebrations of Mardi Gras had become an annual event, complete with masked balls and other festivities. Parades commemorating Mardi Gras (the last day of Carnival and the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent) officially began in 1838.

Lafayette is the ‘capital’ of Cajun Country and home to the state’s second largest Mardi Gras celebration.  We’re here with Carolina Tours to help with the celebration.  Who needs New Orleans?  Laissez le bon temps rouler!

FRIDAY

The Acadian Cultural Center is one of three visitor centers in the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, established to protect the natural and cultural resources of Louisiana's Mississippi River Delta region. Jean Lafitte was a French pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. In return for a legal pardon for smuggling, Lafitte and his comrades helped General Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British in the final battle of the War of 1812.  The Cultural Center tells stories of the origins, migration, settlement, and contemporary culture of the Acadians (Cajuns) and us a good introduction to the area and its people. 

Martin Accordions has, for over 30 years, built all hand-made, single row, diatonic accordions for musicians around the world. Professionals and beginners alike rely on these instruments to provide the sweet, rich sound that Cajun music is known for. Zydeco is the Cajun musical genre that blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native people of Louisiana.   This music was originally created at house dances, where families and friends gathered for socializing. Zydeco usually has a fast tempo and is dominated by the accordion and a washboard. 

 

 

We enjoyed learning about the history of accordions and how they came to be a staple of Cajun music.  Even better was the jam session with three of the Martin family accordion makers/musicians:  Junior (aka Grandpa), his daughter Penny, and his grandson Joel (once nominated for a Grammy award for his music).  They entertained us in grand style, playing different instruments and performing different types of music for which this area is known.  

SATURDAY

The Lafayette Farmers and Artisans Market at the Horse Farm happens every Saturday morning, providing seasonal, farm-based products and artisanal creations offered by local producers.  And, on the Saturday before Mardi Gras add some crazy costumes and live music to the mix – the place was hopping. 

 

 

Avery Island, Louisiana, about 140 miles west of New Orleans, is the home of world-famous Tabasco Sauce.  Surrounded by swamps and marshes, folks on Avery Island seem to live and work much as they have for generations.  We stopped by to learn about the island’s history, see how to make and bottle Tabasco Sauce, and to sample a few spicy treats along the way.

 

 

Our tour took us through the Tabasco Museum, the greenhouse, the barrel warehouse (where the pepper mash is aged), and the factory building (which houses vats where the mash becomes sauce). The last two stops - for shopping and tasting – were the country store and restaurant. 

 

Landry’s Seafood Restaurant is in Breaux Bridge, LA, which is known as the Crawfish Capital of the World.  Crawfish once were not eaten publicly because they were considered low-class fare.  The critters are said to have broken the social barrier and first appeared on a restaurant menu here is Breaux Bridge, which also claims to be where the now-popular crawfish etoffee was invented.  Eventually, the culinary stigma faded, and in 1959 the state legislature designated Breaux Bridge as La Capitale Mondiale de l’Ecrevisee, the Crawfish Capital of the World. 

The Bayou Teche is a 125-mile-long waterway that was the Mississippi River's main course before it developed a delta about 2,800 to 4,500 years ago.  During the time of the Acadian migration, the Teche was the primary means of transportation.

The Bayou Teche Museum is located in New Iberia, LA, recognized by Forbes Magazine as America’s Prettiest Town.  The museum showcases and preserves the area’s history and culture, with a special exhibit on native son, George Rodrigue.  The artist is best known for his Blue Dog paintings, some of which were used in advertising for Absolut Vodka and Xeros.  Rodrigue developed this series to be placed in children’s hospitals to bring joy into an otherwise traumatic experience.    It’s hard not to smile at these delightful, vibrant pictures.

 

Shadows-on-the-Teche is a 3,750 square foot historic house and garden located in New Iberia, LA.  Built in 1834 for sugarcane planter David Weeks, this home is now a National Historic Landmark.  Located 20 feet above the banks of the Bayou Teche, it is set among towering live oak trees draped with Spanish moss and surrounded by azaleas and camellias.  Home to four generations of the Weeks family, the Shadows is a Classic Revival-style home with a Louisiana Colonial floor plan and a beautiful garden.  This white-columned brick building, constructed between 1831 and 1834, is both a survivor and a reminder of another time. 

 

Throughout Cajun Country (and New Orleans), there are scores of social clubs that stage parades or balls or other events for celebrating Mardi Gras.  They are known as krewes, taken from the name of the mid-19th century Mistick Krewe of Comus, the first such organization.   Krewe members are assessed fees (ranging from $20 to thousands per year) to pay for parades and other events.   Criteria for krewe membership varies similarly, ranging from exclusive organizations largely limited to relatives of previous members to other organizations open to anyone.   Krewes with low membership fees may require members to help build and decorate the parade floats and make their own costumes; higher priced krewes hire professionals to do this work. Parading krewe members are usually responsible for buying their own “throws,” the trinkets thrown to parade spectators. Just around the Lafayette area, there are over 20 krewes – that’s a LOT of parades, dances, balls, parties and other celebrations! 

And lots of beads!  The true meaning of Mardi Gras beads begins with their traditional colors, which were the colors of royalty.  In the early days, only the King Gabriel and Queen Evangeline parades threw beads of purple, green and gold.  Purple stands for justice, green for faith and gold for power. The idea was to toss the beads to those in the crowd who exhibited these traits; the people who caught them were said to get good luck for the coming year.

Our Saturday night parade was produced by the Krewe of Bonaparte.  This group has a long and rich history, dating back over 42 years, it is considered one of the premier Krewes in Lafayette.  The Krewe of Bonaparte Parade always rolls the Saturday before Mardi Gras and includes many high school bands and around 30 floats filled with costumed riders. Everyone has a great time throwing beads to the thousands of parade watchers during the 4-mile ride.  And we had a great time trying to catch a few.

 

 

SUNDAY

 Like most of the early settlers in America, Cajuns are a group with strong ties to the lower class of French society. With few possessions, they held tight to tradition, and a strong sense of culture and preservation has remained in the area to this day.  This is especially true in Church Point and other small towns around the time of Mardi Gras.

For the Church Point Country Parade, folks wear costumes similar to those of the Mardi Gras in old France. The costumes were a way of making fun of the aristocracy and the frilly way they dressed at court. Because the paraders were peasants, their costumes were homemade out of scraps.   The traditional shirts are long-sleeved with lots of frills. Paraders wear a masks that are traditionally made out of a screen and painted with some sort of face on it. Then, the hat (missing) is comical and pointed. The whole idea is to hide your identity and to wear a colorful costume. 

Riders wearing costume ride on horseback, on flat-bed trucks, or some walk, around the countryside and beg for ingredients to make a community gumbo.  The revelers go from house to house singing and dancing for the owners in order to get different ingredients, all of which are used to make a communal gumbo at a celebration later that night. The last ingredient, and the highlight of the entire celebration, is the chicken.  By tradition, the chicken must be live and you have to catch it in order to use it in the community gumbo. Also by tradition, the chicken run is limited to men, but most everyone gets into the act one way or another.  

 

 

 

The whole process begins very, very early in the morning. The riders will gather in one central location led by Le Capitaine, whose job is to keep everyone in line and not let things get out of hand.  A lot of drinking is done along the way, which is good because you'll probably want to be nice and sauced for the big finale, 'The Chicken Run.' 

Next come the ‘chicken chasers’ – trailers loaded with young men, most of whom have a beer or drink in hand.  Behind them, more guys – some on horseback, some on foot.  And then there are the chicks who chase the chicken chasers.  Everybody is having a fine time! 

 

 

There’s a special tractor with a cage for the chickens, who seem to be oblivious to all the uproar.  The parade pauses at 6-8 houses along the route – homes of folks who have agreed to let these crazy people chase chickens around their property.  When a chicken is turned loose, it’s unreal.  The outing becomes a competition and people will do anything to catch the chicken.  Actually catching a chicken while running through an overgrown and/or muddy field, inebriated and in costume? It's quite a feat, but somebody has to do it. 

 

 

While the guys run around with the chickens, the parade stops to wait for them and folks wander up and down the line visiting old friends and making new ones.  What a delightful bunch of people!  We were offered food and drink, met the kid who “won” the chicken run a couple years ago by catching 13 chickens over the course of the day, and heard all manner of tall tales about Mardi Gras out here in the country.   (Note 1:  every parade vehicle and/or float was equipped with ice chests filled with drinks, a porta-potty, and a grill.) (Note 2:  It seemed like everyone wanted to pose for a picture - once I didn't react quickly enough and one of the happy paraders grabbed my iphone to make a selfie!)

The chicken run is a not-to-be-forgotten experience, but there really is a parade going on here, with lots of homemade floats, colorful costumes, and beads, beads, beads.     

 

 
  

 

 

Vermillionville is a living history museum and folklife park that promotes the cultural resources of the Acadian, Native American, and Creole people – from the time period 1765 to 1890. The park sits on a 23-acre site on the banks of the Bayou Vermilion with seven restored original homes, local artisans who provide demonstrations on a variety of essential crafts performed by the early settlers, and (of course) a live band for dancing and drinking. 

 

For a change of pace, our guide took us out to Lake Martin, where she hoped to show us rookery filled with egrets, white ibis, and roseate spoonbills.    It was a nice drive in the woods and through the swamp, but … all we can say about the birds is that they were white --- and too far away to see.  Next time we come in a boat!

Rouses Family Market is a chain of some 50 stores across three Gulf states; the first Rouse store was opened in 1960 in Houma, LA – with four employees.  The founder, Anthony Rouse, bought fruit and vegetables from his neighbor’s farms and seafood from local fisherman.  Before long, he was using the shed behind his house to make andouille, boudin and other Cajun specialties that Rouses is famous for today. 

The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is an imposing Dutch-Romanesque structure, whether viewed from the front or the cemetery in the rear.  The building was completed in 1916 and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The Cathedral Oak is nearly 500 years old. 

 

Pont Breaux Cajun Restaurant is where folks go to dine on authentic Cajun cuisine and dance to the traditional sounds of live Cajun music.

 

 

MONDAY

The Academy of the Sacred Heart, just north of Lafayette, was founded by Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1821 for the purpose of educating young women.  The boys’ school, opened in 2006, is named for St. John Berchmans, who performed a miracle on the site where a small chapel now stands.  It happened in 1866, soon after the end of the Civil War.  A young woman named Mary Wilson was preparing to become a nun, but fell dangerously ill and was near death.  She prayed to St. John Berchmans to intercede, and presto, she was relieved of her ailment and immediately resumed her duties.  During exam week, the chapel is packed with students hoping for yet another miracle.   Back in the 1800s and early 1990s, visitors approached the school through a magnificent live oak lane.

 

St Martinville dates to the earliest European and African presence in 18th century Louisiana.  Saint Martin de Tours Church is one of the oldest Catholic churches in America.  It was founded in 1765 by a group of Acadian exiles who arrived that year, the first of many of the unfortunate refugees driven from Canada by the English;  It was these exiles who established the Acadian culture and traditions that have left an indelible imprint upon the state of Louisiana. 

 

There’s much history here, but the town is perhaps best known for the Evangeline Oak, one of several places associated the subject of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem written in 1847.  Evangeline’s story started in 1755, in Acadia, or modern-day Nova Scotia.  Her true love and fiancé was Gabriel, son of a blacksmith. The couple were separated during “Le Grand Dérangement”, when British authorities expelled thousands of French speaking Catholic citizens in one of North America’s lesser known acts of ethnic cleansing.

At first, the Acadians resettled in small numbers in cities across the Eastern seaboard, and Evangeline searched each for her love. She eventually gave up, settled in Philadelphia, became a nun and worked at a hospital.  After many years, she finally encountered Gabriel once again—now a sick old man.  He died in her arms, she soon followed him to the grave. This “fact” is noted on a brass plaque that still stands today in Philadelphia.

Longfellow’s poem was well known in the 19th century.  It brought national attention to the plight of the Acadians, most of whom settled in Louisiana in much diminished circumstances, and became known as Cajuns.  However .... Longfellow’s poem had nothing to do with Louisiana, and he never set foot in the state – and neither did Evangeline.  The story here is that Longfellow heard the story of a local girl named Emmeline Labiche, whom he renamed in his poem.    In the local version, the lovers reunited not in Philadelphia but in St. Martinville, under a live oak tree that stretches its branches towards the chocolate brown waters of the Bayou Teche. They embraced passionately and all was well until Gabriel (actual name: Louis) suddenly remembered that he was married – he had given up hope of ever seeing Evangeline again.  Evangeline later went insane and died. 

Evangeline’s story was a rallying point of pride for Cajuns as a group, as she provided the first outside validation of Cajun culture.  A folk heroine was born. Evangeline became and remains a common girl’s name in the area and her story a popular topic in local art and music.  Her name is affixed on everything from a state parish, to a particular blend of local coffee, to expressways, to dozens of car repair shops throughout Southern Louisiana.

The oak tree where Emmeline and Louis reunited is called the Evangeline Oak. Both versions of the story are recounted on the signs near the oak, and both are retold dramatically by the tour guide. So which story is really true? The tour guide shrugs and smiles and says no one knows for sure. 

You might think the grave would provide some evidence, but it too, bears both the name Evangeline and Emmeline Labiche.  As it turns out, the grave is empty.  The statue atop the grave was a Mexican movie star, who played Evangeline in the silent movie that was made from Longfellow’s poem.  The statue was a gift from cast and crew to the people of St. Martinsville after filming on the movie was completed.  Furthermore, the Live Oak, the site of their meeting, is actually the third such oak designated in Louisiana, as the second one died because the parking lot around it killed its roots.

Despite the naming of historical monuments and oak trees and brass plaques from Louisiana, to Philadelphia, to Nova Scotia, historians have long since concluded that neither Evangeline nor Emmeline ever existed. Evangeline, the core cultural folk heroine of the Cajuns, was a composite character.  The locals beg to differ – they believe that Longfellow, who never set foot in Louisiana, heard the true story of Emmeline Labiche and fictionalized it for his poem.

St. John’s is a family-owned restaurant in St. Martinsville, located on the Bayou Teche.  It serves Creole and Cajun food and is known for the best crab cakes to be found in these parts. 

The Conrad Rice Mill, maker of Kon Riko Rice, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest operating rice mill in America.   P. A. Conrad founded the Conrad Rice Mill and Planting Company in 1912.  He would cut the rice by hand and let it sun-dry on the levees before putting the rice in the threshers. The rice was poured into 100-pound bags and taken to the mill.  Conrad would sell his rice from inventory, waiting for the next crop to harvest.   To meet customer demands, he began to supplement his crop with grain from other growers in the area and began to sell rice in smaller sized bags.  The old mill still creaks and groans, but it’s still producing rice today. 

 

Don’s Seafood Restaurant has been serving up authentic Cajun cuisine for more than 80 years. The restaurant got its start in 1934, when Don Landry opened his first restaurant and bar in downtown Lafayette with $400 borrowed from his uncle. Prohibition had just been lifted and at only 24 years old, he envisioned serving drinks and offering a simple menu featuring fresh local seafood. Four generations later, the Landry family continues that tradition.  It was perfectly situated on tonight’s parade route, which was wonderful news at the end of a long day. 

Nearby we got to see what happens to trees that are nearest the parade route.  It seems that bead-throwers aim for the trees rather than the spectators – all you need is a ladder to gather enough beads to hold your own parade!

 

The Queen Evangeline Parade is held on Monday night, the day before Mardi Gras.  The Queen is chosen from among the college-age daughters of the Krewe of King Gabriel.  We were told that it’s a big honor to be selected queen, but it seemed more like the ‘honor’ went to the girl whose dad had the most money to contribute to the cause. 

 

 

TUESDAY    

King Gabriel's Parade is the pride of the Krewe of King Gabriel, which was formed in 1949 by a group of Lafayette’s leading businessmen.  By tradition, the King of Carnival, King Gabriel, is selected from the membership of this krewe.  The King’s parade takes place on Mardi Gras Day, with large and colorful floats owned by the krewe and its members.  Float riders throw a countless number of beads, trinkets and other memorabilia to parade watchers. 

 

The folks attending the parade are almost as much fun as the parade itself.  We enjoyed the guys (and gals) selling Mardi Gras souvenirs.  The couple pictured here was from Greenville SC; after a few days rest, they are headed to Savannah for the St. Patrick's Day festivities.  

 


We were surrounded by Mardi Gras colors and even a few costumes.  Everyone was out for a good time – and some beads.  In fact, we had all the beads we could carry - time to head home 'til next time ...