Un Noël en Louisiane

« Bienvenue en Louisiane », n’est-ce pas que nos cousins cajuns sont accueillants ?! Ils sont aussi très amoureux de notre langue de Molière, et tentent de la préserver dans ce petit bout d’Amérique. Et oui, ici, on parle français, avec l’accent canadien !

A Lafayette, capitale cajun par excellence, nous avons passé quelques heures dans le village musée de Vermilionville ; nous voulions en apprendre davantage sur l’histoire de cette communauté francophone au pays de l’Oncle Sam. D’abord colonisée par les Français, la Louisiane a été, au début du 18^ème siècle, le refuge des Canadiens francophones chassés par les Anglais voulant conquérir le Canada. Aujourd’hui, la Louisiane subit plusieurs influences : Indienne (natifs d’Amérique), Créole (progéniture des premiers colons, née en Louisiane) et Cajun (ou Acadienne, venue du Canada). Vermilionville reconstitue et met en scène l’évolution de ces différentes cultures, en nous présentant la vie en Louisiane au siècle dernier. En arrivant à l’école du village, nous avons été accueillis par Merlin Fontenot, un vieux d’la vieille… Il avait envie de parler, ce mignon papy, et il radotait un peu ! Mais nous avons pu jouer nos premières notes de violon sous ses conseils, une réussite pour Jimmy, un désastre pour Géraldine !

La Louisiane, c’est aussi l’image des immenses plantations de canne à sucre sur les bords du majestueux Mississippi, dont l’histoire s’accompagne inexorablement de la triste époque de l’esclavage. Aujourd’hui, les plantations sont toujours là bien sûr, mais la plupart sont gérées par des coopératives sucrières. En revanche, les belles demeures trônant au milieu des champs voient toujours, pour certaines, passer des générations de Louisianais ou, pour d’autres, des touristes avides d’Histoire. Nous avons choisi la plantation créole Laura qui, à sa belle époque, occupait le plus de terres de la région et employait deux cents esclaves… Une visite passionnante, menée rien que pour nous par un Français, à travers les sous-sols, chambres, bureaux, cuisine et même la « rue des cases » de la majestueuse plantation. Et, par le plus grand des hasards, nous avons même appris que le grand-père de Laura, dernière tenancière des lieux, était originaire de Mérignac, en Gironde !!!

La Louisiane, c’est aussi les bayous… Vous savez, ces terres marécageuses et mystérieuses, où les crocos aiment se cacher… Nous voulions vraiment aller y faire un tour, mais un orage impressionnant nous en a empêchés et nous a contraints à continuer notre route.

Et la Louisiane, c’est bien sûr et surtout, la Nouvelle Orléans ! Ho, on l’attendait celle-là, et dès les premières rues, ce fut le coup de foudre ! Demeures historiques aux balcons en fer forgé, petites impasses pavées, rues au charme français, mélodies de jazz s’échappant des restaurants ou de la bouche des passants, assiettes de jambalaya ou gumbo, quelques sons francophones atteignant nos oreilles, maisons hautes en couleurs à l’image des résidents du quartier de Tremé, et puis, et puis, le Mississippi, pardi ! On nous avait dit que le cyclone Katrina de 2005 avait laissé des cicatrices, nous ne pouvons l’attester, ne sachant pas comment était la Nouvelle Orléans avant. Nous souhaitions voir une exposition consacrée à l’avant-après Katrina, mais le musée était fermé… Toujours est-il que nous ne pouvions choisir meilleur endroit pour célébrer Noël. Et, contre toute attente, c’est autour d’une fondue que nous avons passé notre réveillon ! Nous avions mangé trop de cuisine cajun les jours précédents, et avions envie de tester la fondue au cheddar… Et, bien que le foie gras nous ait manqué, on s’est régalés, fondue au chocolat en prime !!!

La Louisiane, ce fut donc un coup de cœur, mais un séjour bien trop court pour en appréhender tous les aspects. La date fatidique du 28 décembre approche, et nous sommes encore loin de Washington… Alors, à reculons, nous reprenons le volant, certains de revenir sans tarder sur cette terre francophone, petit bijou « à part » d’un continent un peu trop américanisé !

Christmas in Louisiana

“Bienvenue en Louisiane”, our Cajun cousins are welcoming, aren’t they?! They also are in deep love with our French language and try to preserve it in this tiny part of America. Yes, here we speak French, with a Canadian accent!

In Lafayette, the Cajun capital, we spent some hours in Vermilionville, a museum-village; we wanted to learn more about the history of this French-speaking community in Uncle Sam’s country. First settled by the French colonists, Louisiana has been a refuge, at the beginning of the 18th century, for the French-speaking Canadians that the English chased away in order to settle in Canada. Today, Louisiana has various influences: Indian (natives of America), Creole (children of the first settlers, born in Louisiana) and Cajun (or Acadian, from Canada). Vermilionville village shows the evolution of these different cultures and presents life in Louisiana as it was during the last century. When we arrived at the school, Merlin Fontenot, an old Cajun, welcomed us warmly. He wanted to speak, this cute old man, and was repeating himself! But with his advice, we were able to play our first violin notes, a success for Jimmy, a catastrophe for Geraldine!

Louisiana, it is also the image of huge sugar cane plantations on the edge of the mighty Mississippi River, whose history unrelentingly goes with slavery. Today, the plantations are still there of course, but most of them are managed by sugar cooperatives. And the beautiful mansions standing in the middle of the fields still host generations of Louisiana farmers or hungry tourists for history. We chose Creole Laura Plantation which, at its height, owned most of the fields in the region and employed two hundred slaves… It was an enthralling visit, guided by a French guy only for the two of us, through the mighty plantation’s basements, bedrooms, offices, kitchen and even the “slave cabins street”. And it happened that the grand-father of Laura, the plantation’s last owner, came from Merignac, a town very close to Bordeaux in France!!!

Louisiana, it is also the bayous… You know, these mysterious swamps where the crocs like to hide… We wanted to go exploring them, but an amazing thunderstorm obliged us to keep driving towards a safest place.

And Louisiana, it is also and above all, New Orleans! Ho, we were waiting to visit this town and, as soon as we walked in its streets, we completely fell in love! The historic mansions with wrought iron balconies, the small cobblestone streets like in France, the jazzy melodies coming from the restaurants or from people’s mouth, the jambalaya or gumbo plates, the French words coming to our ears, the houses as colorful as their owners in Tremé, and, and, the Mississippi River of course! We had been told that Katrina had left scars since 2005, but we cannot confirm this statement as we do not know how was the town before. We wanted to see an exhibition showing it before and after Katrina, but the museum was closed. Anyway, we could not choose a better place to celebrate Christmas. And, without expecting it, we ate a fondue on our Christmas Eve! We had eaten too much Cajun cuisine the days before and wanted to try the cheddar fondue… And, even if we missed our traditional foie gras, we loved our fondue, most of all the chocolate fondue for the dessert!

We then fell in love with Louisiana, but did not spend enough time to feel all its aspects. The 28th of December is approaching and we still are far from Washington… So we must go back on the road, sure that we will come back soon in this French-speaking country, a little jewel so different from a too much Americanized continent!

Christmas in Louisiana

“Bienvenue en Louisiane”, our Cajun cousins are welcoming, aren’t they?! They also are in deep love with our French language and try to preserve it in this tiny part of America. Yes, here we speak French, with a Canadian accent!

In Lafayette, the Cajun capital, we spent some hours in Vermilionville, a museum-village; we wanted to learn more about the history of this French-speaking community in Uncle Sam’s country. First settled by the French colonists, Louisiana has been a refuge, at the beginning of the 18th century, for the French-speaking Canadians that the English chased away in order to settle in Canada. Today, Louisiana has various influences: Indian (natives of America), Creole (children of the first settlers, born in Louisiana) and Cajun (or Acadian, from Canada). Vermilionville village shows the evolution of these different cultures and presents life in Louisiana as it was during the last century. When we arrived at the school, Merlin Fontenot, an old Cajun, welcomed us warmly. He wanted to speak, this cute old man, and was repeating himself! But with his advice, we were able to play our first violin notes, a success for Jimmy, a catastrophe for Geraldine!

Louisiana, it is also the image of huge sugar cane plantations on the edge of the mighty Mississippi River, whose history unrelentingly goes with slavery. Today, the plantations are still there of course, but most of them are managed by sugar cooperatives. And the beautiful mansions standing in the middle of the fields still host generations of Louisiana farmers or hungry tourists for history. We chose Creole Laura Plantation which, at its height, owned most of the fields in the region and employed two hundred slaves… It was an enthralling visit, guided by a French guy only for the two of us, through the mighty plantation’s basements, bedrooms, offices, kitchen and even the “slave cabins street”. And it happened that the grand-father of Laura, the plantation’s last owner, came from Merignac, a town very close to Bordeaux in France!!!

Louisiana, it is also the bayous… You know, these mysterious swamps where the crocs like to hide… We wanted to go exploring them, but an amazing thunderstorm obliged us to keep driving towards a safest place.

And Louisiana, it is also and above all, New Orleans! Ho, we were waiting to visit this town and, as soon as we walked in its streets, we completely fell in love! The historic mansions with wrought iron balconies, the small cobblestone streets like in France, the jazzy melodies coming from the restaurants or from people’s mouth, the jambalaya or gumbo plates, the French words coming to our ears, the houses as colorful as their owners in Tremé, and, and, the Mississippi River of course! We had been told that Katrina had left scars since 2005, but we cannot confirm this statement as we do not know how was the town before. We wanted to see an exhibition showing it before and after Katrina, but the museum was closed. Anyway, we could not choose a better place to celebrate Christmas. And, without expecting it, we ate a fondue on our Christmas Eve! We had eaten too much Cajun cuisine the days before and wanted to try the cheddar fondue… And, even if we missed our traditional foie gras, we loved our fondue, most of all the chocolate fondue for the dessert!

We then fell in love with Louisiana, but did not spend enough time to feel all its aspects. The 28th of December is approaching and we still are far from Washington… So we must go back on the road, sure that we will come back soon in this French-speaking country, a little jewel so different from a too much Americanized continent!