Between the meander of the Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico and the placid Lake Pontchartrain reigns a tropical tuft. Of a wild sensuality. It is impossible to say why, the atmosphere of Louisiana has something that immediately captivates. Could it be the vibrant nonchalance of New Orleans and its picturesque French Quarter constantly distilling buzzing melodies? Or rather the feverish past of cane and cotton plantations, a poignant symbol of the Deep South, whose dazzling villas still adorn the lascivious banks of the great river today?
New Orleans, three centuries of history
More than three centuries ago, Sieur de Bienville's French ship embraced the mouth of the Mississippi. Despite the flooded lands, man senses the strategic dimension of the site and establishes a colony. Soon, French trappers, Canadian hunters and convicts preferring swamps to the dungeons of the Bastille populated the region. In 1718 - just 300 years ago - New Orleans was born! The famous French Quarter emerged from the labour of black slaves at that time. On this real Creole agora are the St Louis Cathedral, a model of French architecture dating from 1793, the Presbytery which was once the residence of the Capuchin monks, and the Cabildo, the longstanding political headquarters of the colony where the "Louisiana Purchase" was signed in 1803, the transfer of Louisiana, then French, to the United States. On Charles Street, the imposing Ursuline Convent, built in 1745, is still standing. However, it is to the Spaniards, who landed in 1762, that the Vieux Carré (the other name of the old centre) owes its current architecture. Two fires caused the Spanish to trade wood for brick, erecting arcaded gates overlooking courtyards with fountains. The wrought iron scrolls decorating the balconies are the work of craftsmen, people of free colour, who took refuge in New Orleans after the Santo Domingo uprising of 1791.
It is because the Cité-sur-l'eau amalgamates all the populations, like the French Market: first dedicated to the Amerindians selling herbs and spices, then to the German farmers upstream of the river who invaded the stalls, then to the Italian merchants. Carried by the fruitful plantations, life in the parish was going well and, although Catholic, the population coped quite well with the profusion of saloons. Except maybe the Americans, more puritanical. The differences in morals disappeared on December 22, 1814. During the Battle of New Orleans, Creoles, Americans, free blacks and pirates came under the command of General Jackson to defeat the British. The golden age of steamboats began: hundreds of steamboats unloaded an uninterrupted stream of cotton, tobacco and indigo balls, enriching the city prodigiously. Nowadays, one can board one of these ancient paddlewheel boats for a dinner at dusk. In the spring of 1862, the Louisiana capital fell into the hands of the Union. Three years later, the civil war ended and slavery was abolished. After the dark hours of reconstruction, the 19th century saw a very Louisiana curiosity emerge near Congo Square: the legal debauchery district of Storyville. In this den of gambling and luxury prostitution, the whole good society is in a hurry to witness, behind a mask of rigour, the excesses of Mardi Gras. At the end of the First World War, the area was cleaned up. But the one that was born in the heart of the grivoise nights is not swallowed up: jazz music intends to be heard. Soon, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Fats Domino thrilled the cabarets of New Orleans.
The Big Easy
This sweetness of life, this laidback attitude that wants us to let the little joys come to us, have earned New Orleans its most famous nickname: The Big Easy! It's that time takes its time here. Consider the rolling of the onlookers from the terrace of the Café du Monde, which has been used since 1860, day and night, for sugar fritters and milk-chicoree coffee. Whether you escape to the green maze of City Park or under the oaks of Audubon Park on board an ancient streetcar along St Charles Avenue, the famous tramway named Tennessee Williams' desire. Whether you linger on the zinc of Snug Harbor or Spotted Cat, on Frenchmen Street, sipping a hot coffee, carried by the warmly melancholic notes of a brass band.
On Esplanade Avenue, Victorian high residences stand under the lazy vault of trees. One meets the one occupied by the painter Edgar Degas in 1872 - who received the label "Maisons illustres" from the Ministry of Culture in December 2018 - or Greek Revival, housing the F.P.C. Museum, guardian of the memory of the People of Free Colour. The shotgun houses of the Bywater, shacks painted on the riverbank, house a plethora of art galleries, just like the former CBD warehouses on the other side of Canal Street. On weekends, we'll aim for Magazine Street for its trendy cafés, record stores and thrift stores. With a stopover at Mardi Gras World, the workshops that have been creating New Orleans carnival floats since 1947. If the festival is an outlet, so are blues, gospel and voodoo, all born of Christianity imposed by white segregationists on West African slaves. From Mapple Leaf Bar to Palm Court, to Preservation Hall bathed in its juice, music lovers will be thrilled whether they come for jazz, rockabilly or zydeco training.
In Louisiana, the kitchen is set with letters of nobility. Gourmets will be spoilt for choice. France developed sauces (stewed, spicy, bisque...) and pain ; Spain created jambalaya (spicy paella) ; Africa brought okra and grillade ; Germany democratized delicatessen and moutarde ; the Caribbean imported its vegetables tropicaux ; the Indians put on the aromatic herbs table and maïs ; Italy popularized and sandwiches, like the solid muffuletta, whose Central Grocery remains Mecca. The contribution of the Cajuns is also considerable. This people, driven out of Canada and sheltered in the bayous, had to be inventive, with bullfrogs (frogs) and spicy gators (alligator with spicy sauce). The now typical crawfish (crayfish) then came to garnish the Cajun pots
Plantation Road
By following the curves of the Mississippi, it is the course of time that we go up. The 212 miles of the Great River Road, or Plantation Road, is dotted with imposing white houses with Greek Renaissance columns and Creole houses with colourful porches.
These 18th and 19th century farms were the driving forces behind an economy based on slavery, and if they are now converted into museums and B&Bs, it is to bear witness to this glorious and merciless era in the Deep South. We learn the habits and customs of rich families, but also the terrifying living conditions of the captive blacks who wear themselves out in the fields. These splendid villas flanked by century-old oaks are part of the American imagination
We will also visit the informative Capitol Museum in Baton Rouge: the history, ecosystems and culture of Pelican State are exhaustively covered. Further up the Mississippi, the quiet St Francisville is a pleasant stopover. The 150 buildings around Prosperity Street bear witness to its illustrious past, as much as the forged irons of the Myrtles plantation. From there, we reach Natchez and the state of Mississippi, the Crossroad region and its vast expanses. Unless you turn south to the magical south, its swamps and warm Cajun inhabitants.
Down the bayou
We then rush into the southwest. On the outskirts of Breaux Bridge, the crayfish capital and sanctuary for antique dealers, is the hieratic basin of the Atchafalaya, of which the Cajuns were the first inhabitants, with 300 species of birds, foxes, bears, otters, snakes, alligators and bullfrog toads as neighbours. At dusk, aboard a kayak, we will silently split the thick facade of the waters, to meet the wildlife
Rather peaceful, Lafayette comes alive on weekends to the sound of the joyful Cajun violins. Also in the spring, during the Louisiana International Festival. After a wild dance, a Cajun will probably reward you with a friendly "Don't give up the potato! " (Don't give up!) It's official: in the fall of 2018, Louisiana joined the great family of the Francophonie. We will also taste here a unique cuisine, from seafood marinated in Blue Dog white wine to shrimp dinner and gumbos from chef Rocky, not to mention the spicy Creole Lunch House. Lafayette is an ideal back base to explore the region, following, for example, the Cajun Boudin Trail, a revered victim.
The cities of the North-West - Mamou, Opelousas or Rayne, city of the frog - are under the sign of music, swamp pop in particular, swamp rock.
Transplanting to the south, Lake Charles, its casinos and its "Cajun cowboys" (Texas is 60 km away), although very industrial, have beautiful Victorian homes and coastal plains where salt water mixes with swamp water, attracting a breathtaking birdlife. Birdwatching to be expected!
South of Lafayette, the swamps are becoming denser. Crayfish fishermen invite us to follow them. During a swamp tour on the Bayou Teche, the airboats razed the water bodies to the ground and chased away the lord of the hosts of these woods: the titanic alligator. Hairless! The pleasant New Iberia and its century-old oaks will delight fans of Dave Robicheaux, cop of James Lee Burke's novels, and jazzman Bunk Johnson. Not far away, the small salt mountain of Avery Island is covered with a lush tropical vegetation, scenery of the Tabasco factory, open to visitors. With dozens of bridges spanning the seven bayous of the city centre, Houma is the Venice of America, and it is in French that you will ask for the road to Cocodria. If Louisiana is a boot, Cocodrie is the tip. At the end of the end, the mind wanders, vaguely blissful. It's time to leave
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