We met D for breakfast again in our hotel then collected the car and drove him down to the outskirts of NO where we rendezvoused with S and her friend M. On the way we saw the egrets in the swamp, and what looked like a bald eagle, white head and tail, perched on a tree stump. D also spotted some red cardinals, but they were too quick for me. They went off to Jazz Festival and Bon Jovi, and we drove back up I10 to visit Vermilionville in Lafayette. We stopped by the enormous outlet village, Tanger, for a Starbucks coffee, but no shopping!
It rained along the road to Lafayette, on the elevated section over the Achafalacha Basin and someone spun their car a mile or so ahead of us loosing their front end all over the road. Police and ambulance came hurrying by us, and soon got the traffic moving down one lane.
By the time we reached Vermilionville the rain had stopped but it was very humid. We went in and by reception there was a jam session of Cajun music going on. It sounded very good, but as the place closes at 4pm, we decided that we should concentrate on the village first. The houses are placed along a winding concrete path and set among some interesting native trees. With the help of the walking tour guide we discovered a history of each house and met some people inside who had a story to tell. There was the woodworker who carved 'sandwiches' of different coloured woods that he puts together, cuts in curvy ways and rearranges only to cut them again, and so on. He showed us some beautiful carved ducks that he had made this way. Further on was a woman that was making corn shuck dolls and baskets. She told us about drying the Spanish moss from the trees and using it for everything from insulating the house walls to stuffing mattresses. It is quite inert, unlike the corn shucks that many people are allergic to. Later on we met her daughter who is allergic and she makes peg dolls. Her little girl was very interested in our accents and asked us where we were from. She also wanted to know if we had seen the Eiffel Tower as she would like to see that herself.
Lastly, in the School House we met Frank Fontenot who was 88 years old and told us how it was banned to speak French in school for most of the twentieth century. That and the building of roads across the swamp by a certain Mr. Hughey Long, did much to destroy the Cajun/Creole way of life. But he did say that as a result he was bi-lingual, something not many Americans can claim today. He gave us a tune on his fiddle, and we had to move on.
We peeped into the village hall that was being prepared for a wedding taking place this evening, and made it back to the entrance just before closing time. The jammers had finished and we looked around the little shop admiring the handiwork of the people we had met and others that was on sale.
We then drove back to Baton Rouge and were delighted to see that the Art Fair was still on - more like a craft fair, really. We wandered along the tents of painters, wood carvers, jewellery makers, photographers; all very good. It is a two-day festival with food outlets and loads of children's activities, too.
We dined at Stroubes, again, but just simple steaks tonight with a glass of Sin Zin.
Vermilionville
Stroubes
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