Posts Tagged ‘Cajun’
Here is a small video clip of Christmas eve on the Mississippi River in south Louisiana. This is a yearly tradition, mostly in the “River Parishes” (St. James, St. John and St. Charles parishes) and on the east side of river. The tradition is, depending on who you speak to, either to light the way for Papa Noel (cajun french Santa figure). Others say it is to help guide ships on the river, during December fog in Louisiana. Others say it is to help guide the faithful Catholics to Midnight Mass on Christmas. Whatever the belief, it is still a strong tradition, that still happens to this day on christmas eve. The River parishes are located between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. I have been numerous times and the bonfires can get quite large and really detailed and ALOT of work goes into them. I also would HIGHLY recommend attempting to go once in a lifetime, if possible. Thanks
Duration : 0:3:55
New Orleans (pronounced /nuːˈɔliənz, nuːˈɔlənz/ locally and often pronounced /nuːɔrˈliːnz/ in most other US dialects French: La Nouvelle-Orléans is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area, the largest metro area in the state.
New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the Mississippi River. It is coextensive with Orleans Parish, meaning that the boundaries of the city and the parish are the same. It is bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany (north), St. Bernard (east), Plaquemines (south), and Jefferson (south and west). Lake Pontchartrain, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north, and Lake Borgne lies to the east.
The city is named after Philippe II, Duc d’Orléans, Regent of France, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is well known for its multicultural and multilingual heritage, cuisine, architecture, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz), and its annual Mardi Gras and other celebrations and festivals. The city is often referred to as the “most unique” city in America
La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) was founded May 7, 1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of France at the time; his title came from the French city of Orléans. The French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris (1763) and remained under Spanish control until 1801, when it reverted to French control. Most of the surviving architecture of the Vieux Carré (French Quarter) dates from this Spanish period. Napoleon sold the territory to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, and Creole French. Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city.
The Haitian Revolution of 1804 established the second republic in the Western Hemisphere and the first led by blacks. Haitian refugees both white and free people of color (affranchis) arrived in New Orleans, often bringing slaves with them. While Governor Claiborne and other officials wanted to keep out more free black men, French Creoles wanted to increase the French-speaking population. As more refugees were allowed in Louisiana, Haitian émigrés who had gone to Cuba also arrived. Nearly 90 percent of the new immigrants settled in New Orleans. The 1809 migration brought 2,731 whites; 3,102 free persons of African descent; and 3,226 enslaved refugees to the city, doubling its French-speaking population.
During the War of 1812, the British sent a force to conquer the city. The Americans decisively defeated the British troops, led by Sir Edward Pakenham, in the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815.
As a principal port, New Orleans had the major role of any city during the antebellum era in the slave trade. Its port handled huge quantities of goods for export from the interior and import from other countries to be traded up the Mississippi River. The river was filled with steamboats, flatboats, and sailing ships. At the same time, it had the most prosperous community of free persons of color in the South, who were often educated and middle-class property owners.
The population of the city doubled in the 1830s, and by 1840 New Orleans had become the wealthiest and third-most populous city in the nation. It had the largest slave market. Two-thirds of the more than one million slaves brought to the Deep South arrived via the forced migration of the internal slave trade. The money generated by sales of slaves in the Upper South has been estimated at fifteen percent of the value of the staple crop economy. The slaves represented half a billion dollars in property, and an ancillary economy grew up around the trade in slaves – for transportation, housing and clothing, fees, etc., estimated at 13.5 percent of the price per person. All this amounted to tens of billions of dollars during the antebellum period, with New Orleans as a prime beneficiary.
The Union captured New Orleans early in the American Civil War, sparing the city the destruction suffered by many other cities of the American South.
Duration : 0:3:25
The Mississippi River, home to Huck Finn and his gang, is Mississippi River Boat travel. Mississippi River Boats travel down the Mississippi River starting in New Orleans, and river boat travel is both family travel and luxury travel. The American Queen Steamboat like the Delta Queen Steamboat is a Mississippi River Steamboat with Southern class and charm. This Travel Video PostCard takes us on the American Queen as she floats down the Mississippi River, traveling the Mississippi River in comfort and style. The Mississippi River with its bayous and tug boats and deep South villages and Cajun music and Cajun towns come to life on the American Queen Steamboat on the mighty Mississippi River. River travel on the Mississippi is great food and lots of family travel adventure. Ice cream socials and kite making are part of Mississippi River travel as are wonderful meals served in a classic riverboat dining room. Calliopes make their music, the paddle turns and the American Queen with its antique-looking fixings and décor floats down the Mississippi River in comfort and class.
The Mississippi cruise stops at a 19th century working plantation with a fun group of Cajun singers and dancers.
The Mississippi River cruise stops at Natchez, Mississippi too. This is Mark Twain country.
Duration : 0:1:0