vaughn
Newbie
While much of south Louisiana is thought of as a largely French descended culture, from its history as the southern tip of New France. For most of its pre-American history, it was a french speaking spanish colony. While the settlers were most often french speaking, there were plenty of Spanish, German, Anglo, Irish, and of course Africans. While the native tribes were largely wiped out, the tribes members that remain in south louisiana often speak French as their primary language. I came across this video which tells the story of the Biloxi Chitimacha of Isle de St Charles.
There are oyster fishing villages downriver from New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish that are still primarily of Croatian descent.
The well established Isleño community stretches into New Orleans, up from St Bernard and Plaquemines Parish. Not exactly segregated and having quite a bit of political power in the region, there isn't much "heritage" that is visible to tourist, other than surnames and a museum, from what I can remember. Katrina's impact to St Bernard and Plaquemines Parish is enormous, and I can't vouch for the quality of the experience for the tourist, but there has always been good and interesting people there, with great food.
The coastal marsh beautiful. The Cheniere with their backbones of live oaks basically start near Grande Isle and stretch all the way to Texas.
Some of the towns that bound the Atchafalaya Basin on the east are interesting. The drive from Thibadeaux up to Pierre Part, Bayou Pigeon, to Bayou Sorrel, and Plaquemine is interesting. There are lingering bits of what you some might call bayou hippy culture in those towns, but mostly it is camps, and people who spend alot of time in the swamp.
On the west side of the basin, if you go to Robin's and continue down the levee road towards Catahoula, you're bound to find many entertaining bars. There are access points from both Bayou Sorrel from the east and south of Henderson from the west, that allow you access to some of the most beautiful parts of the basin.
Though you will likely spend quite a bit of time near the Mississippi River, the River Road from Baton Rouge to New Orleans is a very distinctive section. I prefer the west side, but I'm biased, since that's where I grew up. There is plenty to see in St James and St John Parish.
If you'd like to get more into the Cajun areas. You can crudely break cajun "culture" into 2 regional divisions. Bayou cajuns (farmers) and Prairie cajuns (fisherman). I'm sure my characterization is out of date, but prairie roughly coincides with north and west of Lafayette is prairie and bayou south and east.
I could ramble on for days.
There are oyster fishing villages downriver from New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish that are still primarily of Croatian descent.
The well established Isleño community stretches into New Orleans, up from St Bernard and Plaquemines Parish. Not exactly segregated and having quite a bit of political power in the region, there isn't much "heritage" that is visible to tourist, other than surnames and a museum, from what I can remember. Katrina's impact to St Bernard and Plaquemines Parish is enormous, and I can't vouch for the quality of the experience for the tourist, but there has always been good and interesting people there, with great food.
The coastal marsh beautiful. The Cheniere with their backbones of live oaks basically start near Grande Isle and stretch all the way to Texas.
Some of the towns that bound the Atchafalaya Basin on the east are interesting. The drive from Thibadeaux up to Pierre Part, Bayou Pigeon, to Bayou Sorrel, and Plaquemine is interesting. There are lingering bits of what you some might call bayou hippy culture in those towns, but mostly it is camps, and people who spend alot of time in the swamp.
On the west side of the basin, if you go to Robin's and continue down the levee road towards Catahoula, you're bound to find many entertaining bars. There are access points from both Bayou Sorrel from the east and south of Henderson from the west, that allow you access to some of the most beautiful parts of the basin.
Though you will likely spend quite a bit of time near the Mississippi River, the River Road from Baton Rouge to New Orleans is a very distinctive section. I prefer the west side, but I'm biased, since that's where I grew up. There is plenty to see in St James and St John Parish.
If you'd like to get more into the Cajun areas. You can crudely break cajun "culture" into 2 regional divisions. Bayou cajuns (farmers) and Prairie cajuns (fisherman). I'm sure my characterization is out of date, but prairie roughly coincides with north and west of Lafayette is prairie and bayou south and east.
I could ramble on for days.
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