Situated on the Vermilion River about 115 mi/185 km west of New Orleans, Lafayette, Louisiana, is the center and de facto capital of Cajun Country—the area settled by French Acadians in the 1700s. There are several sights of note in the immediate Lafayette area, and the town serves as a good base for exploring the true treasures of Acadiana—the smaller towns located within a 30-mi/50-km radius.
To the north of Lafayette is the Cajun Prairie region, which is made up of smaller towns that retain their French Acadian heritage. This is a largely rural area where cattle graze contentedly and flooded rice fields double as crawfish farms.
The tranquil formal gardens of the Academy of the Sacred Heart draw travelers to the town of Grand Coteau. Fans of percussive zydeco music will gravitate toward the towns of Opelousas and Plaisance, where living legends of the style play in dance halls. Traditional Cajun music (less electrified than zydeco but no less danceable) is also a big draw in the area. Fans of the music get up early on Saturday morning to hit Fred's Bar in Mamou, a microscopic barroom-turned-dance-hall that hosts an early-morning radio program that's popular with locals and visitors alike.
Up the road in Eunice, the beautifully restored Liberty Theater features the Saturday-night radio program Rendez-vous des Cajuns. Host and folklorist Barry Jean Ancelet takes the stage 6-8 pm for a live broadcast of Cajun music, stories and culture.
Sightseeing
First-time visitors to Lafayette will enjoy a trip to Vermilionville, a theme village that re-creates Acadian life from 1765 to 1890. It includes a multimedia visitors center, a theater for music and drama, and a restaurant serving Cajun and Creole food. The focus of the park, though, is the bayou-side village with working artisans and a farmhouse where costumed staffers portray the French-Canadians who settled there.
During the Carnival party season, Vermilionville is a terrific stop for families—its activities include a costume workshop for children. The National Park Service has developed an Acadian Cultural Center next to Vermilionville, one of three centers that are part of Jean Lafitte National Park. It includes a theater that screens an interesting film chronicling the history of the early Acadians.
Take time to drive by the Dutch Romanesque-style Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, built in 1916. As impressive as the building is, we were more wowed by the immense live oak tree that stands alongside it: It's said to be more than 500 years old. It sprawls over a huge area—supports have been placed under some of the limbs to keep them from collapsing under their own weight.
The Lafayette Museum occupies a house from the 1800s and has some fun displays of Carnival costumes.
At Cypress Lake, located on the campus of the University of Southwestern Louisiana, you can witness swamp life—birds, fish and alligators—up close among the cypress trees.
Nightlife
There are plenty of places in Lafayette to hear live music and kick up your heels. Local zydeco and Cajun legends play weekends at several clubs, including Blue Moon Saloon.
Dining Overview
At its core, Lafayette is a sprawling oil-field town, but this working-class city contains more than its share of notable restaurants and classic dance halls. Lafayette is the self-proclaimed home of Louisiana's Cajun culture, and it's the place to go for authentic gumbo, boudin, etoufee, andouille and jambalaya.
The locally famous po'boy sandwiches at the Old Tyme Grocery epitomize the Cajun approach to eating—sizable portions of exceptional food served in a casual atmosphere. And it's cheap to boot: A single US$5 sandwich there could easily feed two hungry travelers. Closer to downtown, T-Coon's Restaurant also serves up huge portions of flawless Cajun home-style favorites (smothered rabbit, crawfish etouffee, shrimp stew) during breakfast and lunch.
For a more upscale experience that's still comfortably casual, head to Prejean's (pronounced PRAY-zhahnz) for inspired variations on classic local dishes that are served to the sound of live music nightly. Mulate's in Breaux Bridge is also famous for mixing food and music. Fried fish is the specialty there, but the real attraction is the joie de vivre.
For More Information
For more information on the Lafayette area, contact the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission. Phone 337-232-3737. Toll-free 800-346-1958. http://www.lafayette.travel.
Calendar
Like most of Louisiana, Lafayette and the Cajun Prairie region have their share of celebrations. Courir du Mardi Gras ("Running of the Mardi Gras") is a tradition celebrated in towns such as Mamou, Eunice and Church Point. It involves a costumed posse riding through the countryside, stopping occasionally to dance and sing for contributions to a community gumbo supper. You'll know you've come across the procession when you see a masked rider with a clucking chicken under one arm and a big sack of rice under the other.
The Crawfish Festival (arts and crafts, live entertainment and Cajun food) takes place in Breaux Bridge late April-early May.
Lafayette has two festivals celebrating local Cajun music and global French-speaking culture: Festival Internationale de Louisiane (late April) and Festivals Acadiens (second weekend in October). They've become popular with music fans across the country.
