Thursday, March 19, 2009

A Walking Tour of Vermilionville

While in Louisiana I enjoyed a lovely morning tour of "Vermilionville".

Vermilionville is a living history museum, whose purpose is to preserve and interpret authentic elements of folk life and cultures of the Cajun and Creole heritage. The settlement of Vermilion is now know as Lafayette.

The park seeks to enlighten visitors about the history and culture of acadiana.


Beau Bassin house was built around 1840.





La Maison Mouton is a reconstruction of an 1810 house with a detached kitchen and forge.






La Maison Buller is a beautiful house built in 1803.




The Chapelle des Attakapas is a reproduction of a Catholic church.


La Maison Boucvalt was built in 1860.




The Amand Broussard House at Fausse Point, built in 1790, is the oldest and largest of the houses at Vermilionville.



L'Academie de Vermilionville is a reproduction of a typical 1890's schoolhouse.




A lovely nature trail of native plants runs alongside the houses.




Home of McIlhenny's

My favorite McIlhenny's Tabasco Sauce
is made on Avery Island in Louisiana. :-)





"Acadiana"

As we drove into Lafayette, I encounterd a word I had never heard before.
"Acadiana"

What did it mean?

"Acadiana is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that is home to a large French speaking population. Of the 64 parishes that comprise Louisiana, 22 parishes, or about one-third of the total, make up Acadiana. In 1971 the Louisiana state legislature officially recognized 22 Louisiana parishes for their unique Cajun and Acadian (French Canadian) heritage and made Acadiana the official name of the region." ~ from Wikipedia