In Lafayette, the University of Louisiana is located, and music with dancing is an integral part of the local life. . During the year, the city hosts a variety of music festivals, and in many restaurants there are dance halls . Lafayette happily escaped the harshest strikes of hurricanes Katrina and Rita which were so badly affected by the rest of South Louisiana in 2005 . Thanks to this, travelers today can still get acquainted with the unique culture of the Acadianians - the original population of these places close to the Creoles .

How to get to Lafayette

Lafayette International Airport accepts flights from American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines from Dallas, Houston and Atlanta . In addition, the city can be reached by the Amtrak train "Sunset Limited", which runs between Los Angeles and New Orleans. Greyhound buses arrive in Lafayette from Houston, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and from the north - from Alexandria and Shreveport.

A bit of history

In honor of Gilbert de La Fayette, the French marquis and the hero of the American War of Independence, in the US, cities are already named in 15 states (and in some, not just one). Lafayette in Louisiana was founded as a European city in 1821 by Jean Muton and was originally named Vermillionville. Until the 1940's. the economy of the city was based on agriculture, but then everything changed due to the development of the oil and gas industry.

Entertainment, excursions and attractions of Lafayette

The culture center of the Acadian Creoles (Cajuns) is small, but very interesting. It takes about an hour to inspect the entire exhibition, and during this time they will have time to get at least a basic idea of ​​this unique nationality that once lived in French Louisiana, with their distinct culture, special dialect and cuisine. The museum is free of charge

Vermilliononville Historical and Cultural Park is also on Fisher Road, just a stone's throw from the cultural center, and here everything is devoted to the life of Creoles and Cajends . This is an original Acadian village with a chapel , smithy, school and t . ., which covers an area of ​​130,000 sq. m . m . Typical village houses of the 1800s ., which today can be seen in the village, stood for the most part abandoned and used at best to store hay . In the 1970s . 11 such houses with clay walls , Wooden beams and skates on the roofs gathered together in the park .

For example, the art gallery of traditional art takes a private house of Dr. Salles, the first lafayettskogo dentist, which was also a doctoral museum is open. Today, there is a great many traditional events and festivals, including a wonderful Christmas fair, when the houses are beautifully illuminated. Employees of the park are dressed in appropriate suits and demonstrate the production of traditional utensils and other handicrafts.

The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist became the first city church. Its construction began in 1821, and the construction was completed only in 1916. It is a beautiful and bright building in the style of the Romanesque Revival, remembered for its mottled contrasting white and red trim and high central facade tower. A museum dedicated to the history of construction and the Catholic community of the city was opened at the cathedral

The Lafayette Museum of Science is located on Jefferson Street. In the museum's collection there are about 1000 paintings, prints and sculptures. The Science Museum itself is small, and the most interesting parts of its collection are an exposition of dinosaur skeletons and a small selection of lunar stones. In addition, the museum has a planetarium with interesting programs.

The campus of the University of Louisiana has an extensive and beautiful tranquil territory, on which there is even an alligator swamp. However, the swamp is not as interesting as the art museum of the university. Art Museum Hilliard University on the boulevard East Ment-Mary - a relatively recent city landmark. Moreover, it is the largest museum on the whole coast between Houston and New Orleans. The museum has temporary exhibitions ... Plus, it's only a few blocks from the Oil Center and downtown.

Cuisine Lafayette

Lafayette is a very "food-oriented" city. The townspeople joke that at the end of breakfast they discuss what to eat for dinner, and at the end of dinner - where to go to dinner. Indeed: restaurants in Lafayette are much larger than in many more densely populated cities. The main culinary bait here is of course the Cagezhen cuisine, which differs, for example, from New Orleans Creole cuisine towards less glamorous and more rustic.

Another local delicacy - lobsters . The town of Broxbridge next to Lafayette even declared itself to be the "world capital of lobsters": here they are made from anything, starting with this - dishes from crustaceans in butter with onions, peppers and spices with rice for garnish - and ending with simple cooked lobster in huge quantities . The famous gambo acadians make their way, with less tomatoes, seafood, chicken and sausage . And the jambalaya is something in the spirit of the local paella, with rice, vegetables, spices and different meats .

Events Lafayette

The International Festival of Louisiana is a major event in downtown which lasts 4 days and includes musical performances and other performances of bands from all over the world with a special focus on francophone countries . Usually the festival takes place on the last weekend of April, and it is a worthy alternative to the famous New Orleans jazz fest that arranges around this time of year: Lafayette Festival is not So costly for money, and the people on it are not so much . Huge selection of delicious food at reasonable prices, food markets and art shops, six sites for live performances and most of the downtown, turned into a pedestrian zone from mid-Friday to Saturday evening , - this is what the Lafayette Festival . And besides all this is completely free . And in September or October the city hosts an Acadian-Creole festival .