Page 158 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New Orleans

156  BEY OND NE W ORLEANS

6 Lafayette

When the first Acadians arrived in 1764, they settled along the
bayous and in the prairie lands west of New Orleans. Being
rural people, they worked as farmers and made a living from
the swamps. Lafayette is Cajun country’s largest city. It is at
the heart of the Cajun culture, because of the strong Arcadian
family traditions and cultural heritage. Community centers,
restaurants, several detailed reconstructions of Cajun villages,
and its own local architectural style have imprinted this city
with a unique atmosphere and the distinctive feeling of
being in the Cajun Country.

E Acadian Cultural Center P Lafayette Museum/
501 Fisher Rd, Lafayette. Tel (337) Alexandre Mouton House Harp on display at the Alexandre
232-0789. Open 9am–4:30pm Tue–Fri, 1122 Lafayette St, Lafayette. Mouton House
8:30am–noon Sat. Closed Dec 25. 7 Tel (337) 234-2208. Open 9am–
A 37-minute film dramatizes 4:30pm Tue–Sat, 1–4pm Sun. – a notable example of Cajun
the British deportation of the Closed major hols. & 7 success. The house contains
Acadian population from Jean Mouton, founder of furnishings, paintings, maps, and
Canada’s Acadie, and charts Lafayette, built the original house documents relating to the city’s
their diaspora to France and around 1800. He history, plus some glittering Mardi
to places along the east and his wife Marie Gras costumes and regalia.
coast of North and their 12
America, before children used it only on E Paul and Lulu Hilliard
their final Sundays when they came University Art Museum
arrival in Louisiana. In from their plantation in 1710 E St. Mary Blvd, Lafayette.
an adjacent display Old-fashioned Carencro to attend Tel (337) 482-2278. Open 9am–5pm
area, informative Cajun plough church and socialize. In Tue & Thu, 9am–8pm Wed, 10am–
exhibits, featuring 1825, the sixth son, 5pm Sat. Closed major hols. & 7
photographs and artifacts, focus Alexandre, moved his family and ∑ museum.louisiana.edu
on every aspect of Acadian law practice into the house. He This small art museum is
culture, including language, later became a United States located on the campus of
music, architecture, religion, senator and governor of Louisiana the University of Louisiana
cuisine, the Cajun Mardi Gras,
and all kinds of handcrafts.
E Vermilionville
300 Fisher Rd, Lafayette. Tel (337) 233-
4077. Open 10am–4pm Tue–Sun (last
admission 3pm). Closed major hols.
& 7 ∑ vermilionville.org
This fascinating living-history
museum features a collection
of buildings dating from 1790
to 1890 assembled into a
typical Cajun village on 23 acres.
Its name, Vermilionville, was
the original name for the city
of Lafayette. Costumed artisans
demonstrate the skills that
were needed to survive
in 18th- and 19th-century
Louisiana; woodworking,
blacksmithing, spinning,
weaving, and cooking. It is
pleasant to wander from
building to building imagining
what traditional Cajun life was
like. A performance hall, where
Cajun bands regularly entertain,
is open in the afternoon. Original Acadian chapel in Vermilionville

156-157_EW_New_Orl.indd 156 05/08/16 3:50 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 1st October 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm