Breaux Bridge, Louisiana to St. Martinville, Louisiana
We wake up to another severe weather warning with alerts on our phones and rain pounding outside. Lafayette is experiencing flash flooding after 4-6 inches (!) in a few hours. Nearby Broussard, where our route is supposed to go, had 8 (!) inches. That is above the highest average monthly rainfall in Seattle.
So, not unsurprising, we receive a text from the ride organizers of Cycle Zydeco that the start has been delayed. We head to the start line and find out there is now an alternative route. We download it and head out with a small group.
The route quickly takes you out of town and into farmlands, ranch homes, and sometimes large commercial buildings we assume are part of the farming. Water is everywhere, fortunately not on the bumpy roads. We pass by lots of freshly planted sugar cane rows.
Our first stop is St. Martinville, nicknamed the ‘Eden of Louisiana’ by Longfellow in a famous “Evangeline” poem. It tells the story of Acadian lovers broken apart when the British forcibly removed these French speakers from Nova Scotia in 1755. Some relocated back to France, and many found a new home in southwest Louisiana in the wetlands and swamps. Over time Acadian became “Cajun” and it has stuck since.
We enjoy great live music over lunch. We visit the Acadian and African American History museum, which provides a southern viewpoint to the slave trade, civil war and reconstruction. It does provide a good history of free blacks in the area who held a unique legal status becoming landowners, farmers and the mayor.
We finish our ride at St. Bernard Catholic school at Breaux Bridge. We find out that Cycle Zydeco is always the week after Easter because the school is on break, which allows them to use the grounds for camping, dancing, and food. They even borrow the school busses for shuttles each day. A pretty good partnership.
We enjoy fresh crawfish (!) and corn on the cob and then the dancing begins with a Grammy award winning zydeco band. We take a short nap on the shuttle back to our hotel, shower, and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.
Which will include our first ‘swamp tour,’ – and more biking.
Siri and David Adventures 