Where is cajun country in louisiana

Lafayette's first settlers were French Acadians "Cajuns" who came to the area in the s. Originally founded in as Vermilionville, the settlement was renamed Lafayette in Today a popular tourist attraction called "Vermilionville" recreates the Cajun lifestyle and folklore in a series of restored buildings.

Lake Charles , the 5th largest city in Louisiana, is known for its Cajun and Creole culture, and its legendary Cajun cooking and fine cuisine. A large petrochemical industry base also provides a part of the area economy.

The first people to settle the lake were Mr. LeBleu of Bordeaux, France. They arrived in and built their home six miles east of the present site of Lake Charles, and known today as LeBleu Settlement. On March 16, the area formerly known as Charleston was incorporated into the town of Lake Charles. Rich in history, the Charpentier Historic District extends over 40 blocks of downtown Lake Charles, and includes one of the finest collections of Victorian architecture in Louisiana, dating from the late s and early s.

Highway 90 between New Orleans and Morgan City. It is also sometimes called "the Venice of America" due to the numerous bayous and bays in the immediate area, and its strategic location on the Intracoastal Waterway and the Houma Navigation Channel. It is the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish , and has a population of about 35, residents. Houma was founded in and incorporated in , and is named after the Houmas Indians. Terrebonne Parish was established March 22, Houma and these surrounding communities are heavily based on Cajun tradition and culture, and are proud of their open hospitality and friendliness.

Houma is famous for its Cajun food, charter boat fishing, swamps, Cajun music and dance halls. Houma also is well known for its birding trails, an exotic wildlife park, museums, Mardi Gras celebrations and more. It is also close to the Atchafalaya Basin and available are a variety of marsh tours, swamp tours and airboat tours. Houma's geographical location produces a combination of deep sea, coastal, brackish and freshwater fishing.

Its location close to Terrebonne Bay, Timbalier Bay and the open expanses of the Gulf of Mexico offers plentiful fishing options including king mackerel, cobia, redfish, speckled trout, bass and drum. Our family roots are from nearby Paincourtville, Napoleonville, Plattenville and Labadieville, where my grandfather worked in the sugar cane fields along Bayou Lafourche. It is the parish seat of Lafourche Parish and has a population of about 15, residents. It was incorporated as a town in Breaux Bridge is known for its Cajun and Creole culture, and its legendary Cajun cooking and crawfish.

Here are located a number of popular restaurants such as Cafe des Ami Breaux Bridge, located on historic Bayou Teche , is also the site of the world famous Crawfish Festival. In , Acadian pioneer Firmin Breaux bought land in the present-day city of Breaux Bridge, and in built a suspension footbridge across the Bayou Teche to help ease the passage for family and neighbors. The Catholic church parish was created in and Breaux Bridge was officially incorporated in In Breaux Bridge celebrated its th birthday.

Donaldsonville is located in south Louisiana at the juncture of the Mississippi River and Bayou Lafourche. It is the parish seat of Ascension Parish, and has a population of about 8, residents.

Pierre Part is a community of about 3, residents in south central Louisiana, with the largest nearby cities being Baton Rouge, Donaldsonville, and Thibodaux. It is situated on land only 3 feet above mean sea level and is surrounded by water, and was thus isolated from much of the world, and was not accessible by land, until the midth century. Today, Louisiana Highway 70 runs through Pierre Part , and the town can be reached from Morgan City from the south and Paincourtville from the east, as well as Donaldsonville and White Castle.

Pierre Part is just east of the Atchafalaya Floodway system levee, and just north of Lake Verret , a relatively shallow lake surrounded by beautiful cypress trees.

In Louisiana, the term Creole refers to "the children of the colonies" — the descendants of those who lived in the area during European colonial rule.

Gumbo comes from the West African word for okra. The French brought enslaved Africans, who were forced to work the indigo and tobacco fields alongside captive native peoples. Whether they were there by choice or by force, each group added its own traditions to Louisiana, creating something entirely new — or, as Garnier put it, creolizing.

Like Creole music, the rest of our trip was partly improvised. We took an airboat ride on the bayou — having signed a waiver absolving our guides of responsibility for the actions of mosquitoes, alligators, and Asian carp, which tend to jump out of the water and into your lap. What struck me even more than airborne fish was the serene beauty of the Atchafalaya Swamp — the country's largest wetland, situated between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.

The sound of flapping alerted us to the presence of egrets, their flight rippling the reflection of cypress trees in the water. Lush nature surrounded us again at Rip Van Winkle Gardens , 15 acres of semitropical parkland on the banks of Lake Peigneur, half an hour south of Lafayette.

Home to roseate spoonbills, white egrets, and peacocks, the property is also the site of an Steamboat Gothic-style house built for Joseph Jefferson, an actor who became famous touring the country in an adaptation of the Rip Van Winkle story.

The gardens are actually located on Jefferson Island — which isn't an island at all, but one of five salt domes, mounds of minerals pushing up through the sedimentary rock, that are attached to the shore of the lake. Some of them formed traps for oil and natural gas, and in , a salt mine under Jefferson Island collapsed after being punctured by a Texaco drilling rig.

The Jefferson home was spared, but as Lake Peigneur drained into the breached mine, it became a whirlpool, swallowing up another house recently built on its banks. Today, only the house's chimney stands, rising mournfully out of the water. From here, we had been planning to go on a Cajun Country Swamp Tour of Lake Martin, but that got delayed because of lightning.

So we diverted to Bayou Teche Brewing instead. When it rains, get some pours. Given the variety of beers on the menu, you might be best advised going with a flight or pair of flights. Additionally, if you visit the tap room on Saturday they offer several tours as well as live music later in the day. And for the record, my favorite beer of the lot was probably the Cinco de Bayou … a perfect beer for a hot day in Cajun Country.

It certainly was for us. And I have good news for everyone:. The food was hot and delicious, I ate two platefuls, and I am just now emerging from my food coma. Yes, I know local restaurants generally make for a better experience than a chain fast-food joint. But there are exceptions to every rule. So, we were eventually faced with the challenge of needing to find an indoor activity.

We eventually settled on the Lafayette Science Museum , and we were glad that we did. Outdoor Adventure. Restaurants New Restaurants. Explore What is Cajun? Acadian Flag. Flag of Creoles. History of Acadiana.

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