Friday April 4

Had an early start this morning, we weren't sure if there would be commuter traffic or not. Turned out the roads weren't too bad but we still missed the turn to get on the highway to leave town. Eventually we figured it out and got to our first stop, the Destrehan Plantation on the River Road, which runs alongside the Mississippi River and used to have loads of plantations. Not as many these days, but still enough to draw many visitors either day tripping from New Orleans or passing through like us. We stopped and took a tour around one called "Laura" which had been owned by a Creole family (a mix of European, native Indian and Black people). It was a very informative tour with most of the historical references coming from a book written by a previous woman owner. Nothing like Gone With the wind, mostly a working plantation with time off spent in New Orleans over the winter two or three months for the social season. Mainly, this plantation was run by the smartest child, usually a female. We toured the house, a slave cottage and some of the grounds. Tour was about 70 mins., after which we proceeded to Lafayette where we visited the Acadian Cultural Centre. The Acadians were French settlers from Nova Scotia who were deported to Louisianna because they wouldn't fight with the British against the French. Next we went walking around Lake Martin where there were lots of birds and swampland. We are going on a boat tour in the morning so we may see even more birds.

Sounds like there has been some bad weather today but we have avoided it as we moved on. It was raining a little this morning but it has been a lovely sunny afternoon.