Cajun country help, please.
 

Plan to go to Cajun country late May/early June. Should we stay in Lafayette, Breaux Bridge or someplace else? Is 1 1/2 days/2nts enough (will be driving from NOLA)or should we do 3 nts? Also, am confused about the difference among Acadian Village, Acadian Cultural Center and Vermilionville. Is one enough, all, recommendations? Interested in sampling Cajun food and music. We are a sr couple.

Thanks to all,
isy

We went to cajun country last June as a side trip from New Orleans. We had a great time. I would do 3 nights if you can as this will give you 2 full days and a little more time to take it easy. We had 3 nights and wished for 4 because we weren't read to go home yet :)

We stayed at a place just north of Breaux Bridge called Cajun Country Cottages (www.cajuncottages.com) - this is a little place on a small lake, very quite and and relaxing. They have about 5 cabins there - rustic setting, but modern amenities. We chose to stay down there rather than in Lafayette because it is a smaller, more quiet area.

New Iberia and St. Martinville are also nice little towns. When I was doing my research, these places also looked promising: Old Castillo Bed and Breakfast and Bienvenue House in St. Martinville, and the Maison de Amis and Country Charm B&B in Breaux Bridge. We ultimately went with the Cajun Country Cottages because my husband was really interested in staying near a lake.

We didn't actually go up to Lafayette, even though we had planned to - probably would have if we had that extra day :) But this is what we did do while we were there:

Avery Island - this is where the Tabasco factory is, just south of New Iberia. The tour of the factory was neat, but the highlight of this for us was the Jungle Gardens. This is a huge garden complex, which started out as a preserve for the egrets. From there is just grew. You drive through the gardens, stopping to have a look around as often as you like. This was one of those unexpected treasures you find.

New Iberia - this is a nice town to wander through with little shops and a nice downtown on the Bayou. Shadows on the Teche plantation is also there. We took a tour, which was really interesting. I love old homes anyway, and this was esspecially interesting because it had been in the same family for so long and then given to the state intact. Also, it was more low key than a lot of the plantations on the River Road - had a different feeling to it and because there weren't as many people, we got to hang around with the guide and ask plenty of questions and hear lots of stories. Across the street is the visitors center which has a nice movie on the history of the family and the area.

Lake Martin - we took a swamp tour with Cajun Country Swamp Tours (http://www.cajuncountryswamptours.com) led by Butch Guchereau which was really neat. We substituted this for another tour we were going to take a couple days earlier at Alligator Bayou just south of Baton Rouge on the way to Cajun Country, but got rained out. Butch's tour was absolutely incredible though - Lake Martin is really pretty and has a lot of different features - open water, swampy areas, etc. and more wildlife than I have ever seen in one place. And Butch knows a ton about the ecosystem. I definitely recommend his tour.

For eats, we had some really good food in this area.

Tops on our list is the Cafe des Amis in Breaux Bridge. I am really glad we took other Fodorite's advice and went. I am still dreaming about that bread pudding :) It has a nice atmosphere, really friendly people, and it wasn't expensive. When we got the bill, I actually thought they had forgotten to add something to the tab because I was expecting it to be a lot more.

In New Iberia, we had lunch at a place called the Lagnappe Cafe (butchered the spelling, I am sure, but something close). It is on the main street and we had some excellent gumbo and crab bisque. And, again, the people were terrific.

We drove over to Youngsville to Morvant's Bar and Grill for hamburgers. It was out of the way, but we love a good burger and heard that this place would not disappoint. Just the other day my husband and I were talking about those burgers - LOL.

So there it is - we loved our time in Cajun Country and wished we had more time. We didn't see and eat everything we wanted to, so I think we will just have to go back :)

Wow, J Correa! Thanks so much for all the info. That was great!

isy

Vermilionville is an 18th century Acadian town with people in period dress and behaving like they are back in time, Acadian Village is 19th century Cajun bayou community.

IMHO, Vermilionville is more interesting. There's not much to Acadian Village.

http://www.vermilionville.org/

Get a taste of life for the 18th-century Acadian settlers in this 23-acre village with meticulously recreated period homes, costumed staff demonstrating arts and crafts and a restaurant serving Cajun and Creole food.

http://www.acadianvillage.org/

Step back in time to a small 19th-century Cajun bayou community, which includes genuine Cajun homes relocated and combined with recreated period buildings and a Native American museum.

Breaux Bridge and Lafayette are around 10 miles apart. Not enough difference to matter, might come down to accommodations and price - B&B or hotel.

I always highly recommend Cafe Des Amis in Breaux Bridge, and do make reservations for dinner.
http://www.cafedesamis.com/
If you are in the area on a Friday night, staying at Maison Des Amis used to get you preferential seating at Cafe Des Amis for the Zydeco breakfast Saturday morning. Check with the B&B to verify:
http://www.maisondesamis.com/

<i><b>Laissez les bons temps rouler!


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We also enjoyed St. Martinsville and the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site
I agree 3 nights would be better than 2.

Three full days should do it. Whether you stay a third night is up to you. It's not that far from NOLA-about 2-2 1/2 hour drive to Lafayette.

Breaux Bridge is quaint while Lafayette ain't. However, don't let Lafayette fool you. There's an amazing amount of music and cultural things to do there in spite of its lack of charm.

Go see Cajun dancing at Randall's. Food is okay. About 10 miles south of Lafayette on the Evangeline Freeway toward New Iberia is the Boiling Point , which has the best boiled crabs I've ever had. The Acadian Village is interesting for a quick stop. Go up to Mamou to Fred's Lounge on any Saturday morning (yes, morning) for some Cajun music, dancing and drinking.

If you don't go to Fred's go to Cafe des Amis for the Zydeco breakfast on Saturday. Food's okay, but the scene is so Acadiana.

My mother-in-law lives in Lafayette, so we've been quite often. Only bad thing is the dearth of good restaurants. All the really great cooking is done at home. Perplexing why there are so few good places to eat with a food culture so rich.

Consider the tour of the Tabasco &quot;factory&quot; at Avery Island.

One of my favorite memories &quot;cajun country&quot; -

http://www.tabasco.com/tabasco_histo...sland.cfm#targ

That Tabasco factory tour was pretty cool. Of course, I wished it was longer, since factory tours are just neat, but it was good. And free, so can't beat that :) We did our part though - we visited the gift shop. I thought it was very smart of them to locate the restrooms in the back of the gift shop ;)

DH and I have been in the Lafayette, Breaux Bridge area. We enjoyed all three of the Acadian Village, Acadian Cultural Center which is a basic museum, and Vermilionville. When we walked away from seeing these three, we truly learnt and understood the Cajun culture. THe Jungle Garden and Tobassco Factory are also as mentioned well worth. We enjoyed Mulates for eating. True cajun music, and the Cajun people were there and were teaching their way of dancing. Show in itself and we never have had anything bad all very good in food and service. This is where I had aligator for the first time.