In Ontario, I think we’re always aware of the French language. We’re located right next to Quebec and there are pockets of Franco-Ontarian populations sprinkled throughout the province. And French is on most of our products, labels, printed materials and more.

To see this in the United States is a little out of the ordinary – but it’s what we experienced today in Lafayette, Louisiana.

We found ourselves in the heart of Acadiana. That’s a region of 22 parishes (what we would call counties) in southern Louisiana that is home to the Cajuns – descendants of French-speaking inhabitants of Acadia (now Nova Scotia) who were cruelly expelled and forcefully deported from their homeland by a vengeful British governor in 1755.

During the early part of the 20th century, Cajun children were forbidden to speak French in schools as part of an effort to force them to learn English. This ban was in place until 1968, but today, things have changed.

Many efforts are underway to preserve Cajun culture, Acadian heritage and the French language in the region. In fact, we learned that in some families, the grandparents can speak French with their grandchildren, who have attended French schools in Louisiana – but it’s the generation in between that doesn’t speak the language.

To learn more about early Acadian life in Louisiana, we stopped off at Vermilion Ville, a historic village from the era. The very first thing I saw was a really big spider who had built a really big and funky web. Not really Cajun or historic but different enough (and creepy enough since I don’t like spiders!) to get my attention. Those are Bill’s fingers in the photo to give a sense of the size of this creature.

It was a tough life back then – made especially so, in my opinion, by the lack of air conditioning. It is stiflingly hot in southern Louisiana in August and the humidity makes all of your clothes cling to you within seconds to going outside (never mind what it can do to your hair!). And that’s without lifting a finger to do any kind of work except turn the page in the tourist brochure or lift the camera to take a photo!

After the tour we stopped off for lunch in the village restaurant and tried some authentic Cajun cuisine – gumbo (photo at right), chicken fricassee with rice and syrup cake.

Here are some photos of what we saw:

A Louisiana licence plate

Tree covered in Spanish moss

Store selling cracklins and boudins - cajun specialties

Example of a 19th century Acadian house

Sideview of a 19th century Acadian house

The kitchen was often in a separate building behind the house

Construction didn't always line up properly!