Next up on my tour of Louisiana, following a whirlwind few days in New Orleans, were to spend a couple nights in the River Parishes; a setting inherently linked now to HBO’s True Detective show. We set off in our red van with our beloved tour guides Jeff and Jo, native to the River Parishes we were to be exploring, and got ready to discover the ‘real’ side of Louisiana.
I fell in love with the landscapes. Everywhere you look, you feel like you’re in a film set (which isn’t suprising as Louisiana is now the second favourite filming location in the US for directors and location scouts). Whether we were stopping for a beer in one of the rundown roadside bars, sitting on the dock of the bayous, making friends with baby Alligators or exploring the history of the state’s plantation homes, it is an incredible place filled with history and intrigue. Even the weather has a mind of it’s own, with gorgeous sunshine one minute and then storms the next – there’s a sense here that nature reigns supreme.
We even visited locations used in the incredibly moving 12 Years A Slave – one of my favourite films of the last decade – and learnt all of the insides and outs of the on-set happenings when we met the owner of the home who was present when Steve McQueen and the cast were filming.
Our home for the evening was the incredible Oak Alley Plantation – a place steeped in history that respects and pays tribute to the many slaves who horrifically lost their lives on its land in a thoughtful homage to them in the past slave quarters with a wall remembering the names of each and every one of the people who were kept in captivity (which in itself is heartbreaking as these names were their ‘slave names’ – their original names were never known).
We stayed overnight in one of the cottages (apparently in the same one as Brad Pitt – who is a regular at the Plantation after staying there for filming both Interview With A Vampire and 12 Years A Slave). Notoriously haunted, we kept ourselves entertained (read: PETRIFIED) all evening regaling eachother with ghost stories and drinking red wine, that resulted in a somewhat jumpy night sleep….!
On our final morning, we braved the insane rain showers to duck into a Swamp Tour, led by the legendary Capt.Tom – a real swamp local who had been living there his entire life and knew the gators in the water as well as he knew his friends and family. The tour was a great way to experience and witness the swamp landscape that is so much a part of this state’s history – and holding a baby Gator was one to tick off the ‘Life List’ also!
If you are planning a road trip of America’s Deep South, I envy you – as you will have simply the best time. Louisiana was the most welcoming, fun and fascinating place I have ever been and I’m longing to go back already.
What holiday plans have you made this summer?!
LMNH x
I wanna go there! xx