Gonzales, La, "Jambalaya Capital of the World"

We had a good sleep and a relaxing morning doing some housework and some fix and repair jobs. Not really sure where we want to go today so we are not in a hurry. Bob has gone into Cabelas to get new line put on his new reel. I'm still trying to put pictures on my blog. I think I have finally been successful but am not sure how I did it to be able to repeat the process.
A list of places to look for Cajun sausage aka, boudin, from the ladies at the Welcome Center....
Dayz, Denham Springs, Oak Grove, Gonzales, and Savoie's.
We are at Mike Anderson's for lunch...our waiter originally from northern California, has family that logs out of Winter Harbour. Only name he knows is Patrick Moore, the green peace activist turned logger baron. Too funny to be this far from home and have this connection. He visited there when he was eleven. He and his friend, another waiter here would like to come to Canada in the summer for a visit. Gave them our email in case they make it. They are both college students at LSU at this time. There is something about southern manners that is just so charming. People, and especially men, both young and old are so polite. It must be instilled in them from birth because I encountered a young  boy yesterday in the store who would not move forward until he had let me go....maybe 10 years old but full of good manners.
For lunch I ordered 6 oysters, got 10:) by mistake and  Cajun rice with shrimp. The start of our Cajun diet. I have made a vow to myself to try something different each time we eat out. In the meantime we have found a new spice, Tony Chacheres Creole spice that we are using with Gulf shrimp bought in bulk from Walmart!! Add pasta and wow!! Good and spicey.
Here they have wards and parishes instead of counties and districts. Not sure of my Louisiana history but I believe, at this time, that they are all defined by the church.
I hope by spending a significant amount of time in Louisiana to learn more about this wonderful and diverse culture.
As we moved from Mississippi into Louisiana, Natchez seemed to be a transition city. It was still
Missipi but had the old world charm we thought to be ahead in Louisiana.
We have found the French flavour....Cajun is country, Creole is mostly Cajun but with French and Spanish influences and served on fine china:)
We have come from cotton to sugar cane? There are huge trucks on the highways filled with what we believe to be sugar cane. The Mississippi is lined with refineries, barges and now even ocean going ships as we near the gulf.
Gonzales is a town of about 15000 people but seems to be part of a long line of communities stretching the 60 miles to New Orleans,
We are going to do our chores while we are unhooked here, like laundry and showers, pick up my art parcel and then go into New Orleans on Tuesday. I feel a day seeing the tourist sights may be enough of the city for us. Our plan is to head down through Houma to Grand Isle, the very southern tip of Louisiana. It claims you feel like you are in the Caribbean....sandy beaches, fishing and peacefulness. We feel ready for that. Hope it lives up to our needs and expectations.


Louisiana, the Pelican State, a "sportsman's paradise", flower, like Mississippi,  is the Magnolia, the state tree is the Bald Cypress, a form of puffy pine tree.