Cafe Des Amis

The crowds start lining up at 7 AM on any Saturday.  It is breakfast time at Cafe Des Amis.

The seating starts at 7:30 with a $5 cover charge....

and the band arrives at 8 AM to set up in the window of what was once a general store.  

Zydeco is not complete without the washboard.

All ages, sizes and persons able to do justice to the two-step are present.

Fully 1/2 the crowd does not have a place to sit but they weren't there to sit anyway.

The locals know to put on their finest.

And the whole building reverberates with the music that doesn't stop--or even slow down--until noon. It sure beats breakfast at IHOP.

Breaux Bridge is the very heart of cajun country,  the locals are wonderfully welcoming, and Cajun French can be heard throughout.

No trip to Louisiana is complete without the 'Swamp Tour'.

We chose Lake Martin right outside Breaux Bridge and it was a perfect day for a boat ride...

The gator's were out  ...along with birds, turtles and crocs. 

We spied a bald eagle  

After all that sun I thought surely I would be roasted but the sunscreen saved me.  The dermatologist back in Tucson suggested Walgreen's brand of baby sunscreen--it was the cheapest and it works just as well.  He was right.

No sunburn.

Cousins--from Alexandria to Breaux Bridge

I think I have been away from the south too long--I keep seeing things I don't quite understand.

Like this.  Is that his name?  The name of his shop? A misspelled predilection? A promise?  Anyway, I might trust him/her/it  based on the name alone.  Now ask me sometime if I have ever seen a bald crawfish.

Ron and Loretta gave me this wonderful little gadget that is the answer to my lack-of-an-oven quandary.

And it totally works though it won't bake a whole turkey, chicken or roast.  But it does potatoes, biscuits, casseroles, vegetables, etc.  Love it!

(Dean and Amanda Lambert, I am so terribly sorry but the pictures I took of you guys in Many did not come through.  I don't know why. )

(Aunt Doris, Loretta (standing), Linda, Jamie, Patsy, me, Tinker)

After a day in Toledo Bend State Park we moseyed on over to Alexandria for a few days with some more cousins. Jamie and Linda drove up for the day from southern Louisiana even though they are on our schedule of stops later in the week.

Tinker's neighbor let us park in her driveway (because it was level and Tinker's wasn't so much).  We spent several nights, got to know Tinker's kitties, and enjoyed her great biscuits and homemade jam each morning.

         

Our next stop was Breaux Bridge where we found the Crawfish Festival in full swing.

Boy was I underdressed.

But not Loretta--she found the perfect hat.

Dancing and food--Louisiana favorites.  This tent offered dance lessons on the the waltz and the two-step--not too complicated....

....so everyone can get on the floor.

And it's hard to resist when its Zydeco.  

We found this toss-the-ping-pong-balls-into-the-floating-bowls game that no one seemed to be able to win.

The prizes were not all so great...

 ...but these little guys stole my heart.

 How well do you think a bunny would ride in an RV?

 

Then, Glory Begorra!  Someone won!

This little bunny is going to be well-loved. 

 

And we finally sat down to some bald crawfish.

Loretta was willing to try--though sucking the seasoning out of the crawfish heads was asking too much. (Uh Oh! Disagreement number two)

It did not take her long to get into it and she gave those mudbugs a thumbs up.

Louisiana loves its food festivals and the residents will form one at the drop of a --well, ground.  

When a sinkhole appeared a few weeks back on Canal Street in New Orleans a festival was formed and celebrated on May 5th--Sinkhole De Mayo! Sorry I missed it but thanks for the heads-up, Jamie.