Louisiana Trip

We went down to meet D for breakfast to find that the Royal Wedding is all over the news on the Lobby TV, with live commentary from various correspondents in strategic position around London. We overheard one couple saying that they had been up at 3am to see the live broadcast! Not us, though! The Royal couple looked radiant on the balcony of Buck House and we wish them well.
After our buffet, we decided to head out on foot to explore Baton Rouge, starting with the walk up to the new Capitol building with its 34 floors and panoramic view of the state capital, Baton Rouge. The weather is very pleasant, warm but not too humid, which it can be more often than not at this time. We saw a lot of thirties style buildings as we walked up the road, and of course, we could see the tower from a long way off. It is a lovely building and very Art Deco in design with stylised pelicans in abundance as they are the state bird. It was built in 1932 replacing the Gothic castle at the other end of town. Here Governor Huey Long was assassinated in 1935 – we saw the place. We saw the rooms where the laws are passed as well as some historic displays going back to Baton Rouge’s origins with the French colonists. Then we took the lift to the viewing platform on the 27th floor. We could see for miles – not just the city, but also the big refineries to the north and the busy port.


When we emerged from the building it seemed quite warm at ground level; we were now off to the Museum and also looking for a cup of coffee. But the Museum does not have that facility, so we left again and wandered further on, passing the old fire station, full of old fire engines, but very closed. Eventually coming to the lovely café, Strands, where delicious coffee, cupcakes and pie was being served. It’s a popular place – and rightly deserved. When we were ready, we strolled along towards the Old State Capitol and again passed some interesting buildings, including the first ‘skyscraper’ in Baton Rouge – the Roumain Building with its six floors.
The Old State Capitol is in an amazing Gothic Castle style with stained glass windows, from the mid nineteenth century. Outside we saw the Merci Train; a WWI freight wagon given by France (there was one for each State), after WWII. Each French Department is represented by its coat of arms on the outside. Inside there is a fabulous spiral staircase that takes you up to the two chambers that are lit by the arched and colourful stained glass windows. Downstairs there were several exhibitions and we could stand at a podium and read several historic speeches on the autocue machine.

From the OSC we went to find the Baton Rouge sculpture on the river bank. Similar red sticks marked the boundary between neighbouring Native American tribal lands when Iberville came and founded the city. We also looked for a statue of Christopher Columbus, but never found it – it must have been moved. But our walk took us back to the OSC and the Shaw Centre where people were setting up stalls along the streets. Apparently there will be an art fair here at the weekend. We dropped our stuff off at the hotels, then met up and went to Stroubes Restaurant for dinner. It was very jolly and A&D had special beers and I had a cocktail – a mix of a margarita and a mojito.


Baton Rouge
Strands Cafe
Stroubes