Well, this was really a week of firsts! On Wednesday, Dr. Maraist (a Notre Dame grad) and his lovely wife took us to meet some other ND grads for dinner. On the way, we stopped to see Lake Martin, a large lake near Breaux Bridge, LA that incorporates a lot of swampland. We were able to walk on a footbridge through the swamp right next to all the cypress trees. After we got back in the car, we drove along the edge of the swamp and finally saw our nutria rat!! That thing was DISGUSTING. The head was probably 4 times the size we expected and it had this gross hooked nose. We tried taking a picture of it, but it ducked under the water as soon as we opened the car door--maybe that whole nutria rat hunting plan is going to be harder to execute than we expected...after that, we saw an 8-foot alligator (pictures to come)! When we stopped the car to get a closer look, it started swimming towards us--thank god we stayed in the car. When it was almost at the shore, it stopped..and slowly sank until all you could see was its little eyeballs peeking out of the water.
After that adventure, we had an unbelievable dinner at "Café des Amis," a restaurant in Breaux Bridge with live music and signatures of famous people on the walls. Jonelle got a Crawfish pie, which was like a crawfish étoufée in a puff pastry--crazy good--and Stacey got crab stuffed flounder! The white chocolate bread pudding we had for dessert was definitely in the top 10 desserts EVER made, and it was so good we almost made ourselves sick from eating too much of it. We met Father Bob, the priest from ND who got us the passes to the gym, and a few other alums who were so nice to treat us to such an amazing dinner.
On the way back from dinner, the Maraists wanted to show us true cajun dancing, so we stopped at Mulate's, a cajun restaurant and dance hall that had a live cajun band who spoke and sung in French! It's like coming to a different country being down here; we're meeting more and more people who are fluent in French, not to mention all the fleur-de-lis and French street signs everywhere. The Maraists, who are both bilingual (Mrs. Maraist grew up speaking both French and English--SO JEALOUS!), were explaining that the Cajun French is similar to the French that was spoken in the 17th century, so words for modern technology don't exist in the language. They also told us about the deportation of the French people from Nova Scotia, and how eventually a large population of them settled in Southern Louisiana.
After that adventure, we had an unbelievable dinner at "Café des Amis," a restaurant in Breaux Bridge with live music and signatures of famous people on the walls. Jonelle got a Crawfish pie, which was like a crawfish étoufée in a puff pastry--crazy good--and Stacey got crab stuffed flounder! The white chocolate bread pudding we had for dessert was definitely in the top 10 desserts EVER made, and it was so good we almost made ourselves sick from eating too much of it. We met Father Bob, the priest from ND who got us the passes to the gym, and a few other alums who were so nice to treat us to such an amazing dinner.
On the way back from dinner, the Maraists wanted to show us true cajun dancing, so we stopped at Mulate's, a cajun restaurant and dance hall that had a live cajun band who spoke and sung in French! It's like coming to a different country being down here; we're meeting more and more people who are fluent in French, not to mention all the fleur-de-lis and French street signs everywhere. The Maraists, who are both bilingual (Mrs. Maraist grew up speaking both French and English--SO JEALOUS!), were explaining that the Cajun French is similar to the French that was spoken in the 17th century, so words for modern technology don't exist in the language. They also told us about the deportation of the French people from Nova Scotia, and how eventually a large population of them settled in Southern Louisiana.
Oh, and another thing to add to the list of crazy Louisiana has and most other places don't--Huge, Vicious bugs. It's so hot that these things don't die in the winter, and they just grow and grow. We are starting to get used to them though, like a giant cricket hanging out in our room, or ants as big as athumbnail with red stripes. They also have different names for the bugs- a dragonfly is referred to as a mosquito hawk! Even if we are getting used to seeing the bugs, our legs and ankles are not used to being attacked constantly by them--both of us have bites from these little boogers up and down our legs. Sweet blood I guess!
Saturday was a new adventure altogether. Adam (Mandy's eldest son) called us at about 3 o'clock and invited us out on his houseboat on the Atchafalaya Basin (pronounced uhCHAFFalaya). We packed up some snacks (including about 4 cases of water, which we carried to the boat and later back into the car) and headed out to the Basin. We stopped at the Welcome Center to get some brochures and maps, and were pleased to see that we were the most exotic people that had visited in awhile! When they pulled up to get us, we boarded 'St. Michael', a pontoon boat with a grill and tent on top. We stopped at Adam and his wife Ellen's camp-a floating shed with an A/C generator and bunk beds... and no bathroom. There was a barbecue pit onboard, as well as a porch swing and University of Louisiana Flag. We promptly dragged the swing onboard the pontoon and took off to take a tour of the Basin.
Once we got out in the open water (about 20 feet deep) we got to jump in the water. We didn't go in the water near the camp because it is located near the cypress trees in shallow water, meaning there could be alligators and snakes lurking in the swampy areas. The water felt so good because it was still over 95 degrees at around 4 o'clock. Essentially we were swimming in a basin of the Mississippi River, so when we got out of the water, mud was sticking to all the little hairs on our arms and stomach. After a while of cruising around, looking at the various camps people had set up (which in case you are wondering, you can set up anywhere around the Basin as long as it is government property), we headed back to the camp to start barbecuing dinner. While Ellen, Mandy, and their friend Blake started cooking, Adam took us in a little john boat around the swampy areas. It was seriously so cool! We went through the cypress trees, where there were lily pads and Spanish moss everywhere. It looked exactly like the swamps in movies. We thought we were going to see another alligator lurking in the shadows under a giant tree! Once we got back we had some delicious, and of course spicy, barbeque chicken and sausage. We left to head back to Carencro to shower and rinse the mud out of our clothes. Overall the swamp was gorgeous and one of the most unique areas either of us had seen.
Saturday night was our first go at Cajun dancing--even though no one was available to take us, we decided to go stag to Cowboys, a country style bar/dance hall. Wayne Toups was playing--he is apparently THE band to see if you're looking for "Zydecajun" music (a mix between Zydeco and Cajun, the local music from around here). Well, the parking lot was completely packed with pickup trucks, but we could not believe our eyes when we walked in! The place was jammed with people anywhere from age 18 to 60 in Cowboy boots and hats who were line and Cajun dancing to this folksy accordion music. It was straight out of either a movie or 50 years ago. The band was really awesome, and we're really into the whole zydeco thing now that we've heard it live--just a happy sound that totally fits the place we're in! We spent the evening going up to random Cajun boys explaining that we're from the north and we don't know how to dance. It was hilarious; once we told them our story, they either laughed at us for wanting to learn to Cajun dance in "just one night," or they consented and gave us some dance lessons. We left the place knowing a little more about how to dance and wishing there was a place like Cowboys in the real world (i.e. South Bend, IN)!
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