Recently Brian and I went on a overnight getaway to Louisiana. We visited New Iberia and St. Martinville, which are in the heart of Cajun country. This is the area where the French colonists originally settled after they where expelled from Acadia (Nova Scotia) by the British.
We toured this charming house which was built as a winter home by a famous actor in 1870. The gardens here were so beautiful, with peacocks roaming everywhere. Buried treasure chests were found under one of the giant oak trees, and was said to have belonged to the pirate, Jean Lafitte. While we were there, they were setting up for a wedding, what a beautiful place for a wedding! There was also a cafe on the property overlooking a lake. We had lunch here and ate the best bread pudding!
We also toured this Antebellum home which sits on the Bayou Teche. I loved this tour. The tour guide was so knowledgeable and entertaining. This home was owned by generations of the same family before it was handed over to the preservation society. Everything in the home was original to the family, including hundreds of documents and letters, which give an amazing insight to the family history as well as the time period.
We also visited the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site, which was originally an early Creole Plantation. Our tour guide, a French speaking Cajun, gave the tour of the property in both English and fluent French, because we had people in our group from Quebec. It was so fun to listen to.
This is the 300 year old Gabriel Oak which is on the property.
This is the Evangeline Oak which was made famous in Longfellow's poem "Evangeline".
While we were in the area we also toured the Tabasco Factory, which was Brian's favorite part of the trip. The gift shop had Tabasco products which you could sample, including Tabasco Coke, and Tabasco ice cream. This was a much need getaway; we are lucky to live so close to an area so rich in history!
