Louisiane, l’Amérique créole – Mississipi – Documentaire Voyage – AMP

Louisiane, l’Amérique créole – Mississipi – Documentaire Voyage – AMP

Louisiana is a state with many faces, one of its main assets is its history. After 300 years of existence, it is still constantly evolving. From the first Native American tribes to wealthy Western planters, from African slaves to Acadian deportees. Nature also reserves many surprises,

The oil fields are far from having conquered bayous and marshes Louisiana is proud of its past, both turbulent and subversive, it is its vestiges, its monuments, its memories, which make it fascinating to discover. From New Orleans to Lake Charles we are going to discover a

Region where old French is still spoken around a bayou or an old plantation. Located in the far east of the state, New Orleans, created by the French in 1718, cultivates a warm nonchalance. The French government, which could not get enough volunteers to settle in Louisiana, sent its rabble there , his criminals

And his prostitutes. This city was the bed of gambling and prostitution, destroyed by several fires, it was then ceded to the Spanish. When the French took control again, this cultural mix gave the architectural face of the French quarter such as we know him today. Chez Antoine, the oldest restaurant in the city,

Created in 1840 by the Frenchman Antoine Alciatore, the portraits of the sons and wives remind us that one and the same family presided over the destiny of this legendary place. Several rooms are dedicated to the “Krewe” of Mardi Gras, these clubs which host one of the largest carnivals in the world.

Sterling, who has worked here for 50 years, is a master in the art of preparing Brulot coffee. It is composed of orange zest, cloves, cinnamon, cognac or brandy which is flambéed and which takes part in the show. I don’t know the whole story but in French it means: double

Preparation, the Brulot Diabolo coffee, it is in fact a double preparation Jazz was born in New Orleans, during the period of the Jazz festival the orchestras of streets, bars, concert halls resonate with all the trends that have shaped this music. Saint Louis Cathedral, the oldest in the United States, has become

One of the emblems of the French Quarter since 1718. At that time it constituted the seat of ecclesiastical power in Catholic Louisiana, it covered a very vast territory. The equestrian statue of Joan of Arc is a work of the French sculptor

Emmanuel Frémiet, the original of which is exhibited at Place des Pyramides in Paris. This is a reproduction which was donated by France in 1972 The Ursuline convent was the only building not to have been affected during the fire of 1788 which ravaged the city

Laffite’s Blacksmith is one of the most old city buildings. This store according to legend belonged to the privateer Jean Lafitte who used it for smuggling. It was only transformed into a bar in the 1940s. In the evening we still light it with candles to serve beers and prolong the legend.

The New Orleans Legend Park pays tribute to great names in jazz like Fats Domino, who left their mark on the city; orchestras regularly play standards there. The sieur de Bienville, who came from Quebec, had flair in establishing New Orleans in a

Place where the Mississippi widens and communicates with the Gulf of Mexico via Lake Ponchartrain, today the port is the 6th largest port in the United States by its tonnage The Natchez is a modern replica of the thousands of boats which went up

The river towards the north. Propulsion by paddle wheels was well adapted to the first steam engines whose operation was extremely slow. Every year at the end of April, the New Orleans Jazz Festival celebrates and highlights jazz. Whether outdoors or in clubs, music is everywhere.

Bourbon street is of course a tribute to the reigning royal family of the time, after a tumultuous history of gambling dens and prostitution, the street has calmed down while remaining a tourist hotspot dedicated to restaurants, bars and the music. During festival periods, the Fritzel remains an essential jazz club.

The party often continues late at the end of the French Quarter in the clubs the lights go out much later. The cuisine of New Orleans is recognized as one of the tastiest in the United States. At the Palace Café, Dickie Brenan, its historic chef, puts Creole flavors in the spotlight.

The Mississippi Delta is one of the places with the most fish in the world, we are spoiled, 3/4 of the rivers in the United States flow into the Mississippi and when arriving at the mouth it is just phenomenal, the seafood is exceptional and inside we have the Marsh which is an

Even different part of the estuary where we have crayfish inside and crabs outside. Creole cuisine is that of central New Orleans, Cajun cuisine is more towards the west of the city, more rural, cayenne pepper is widely used in Cajun cuisine , it is spicy, Creole cuisine is less cayenne pepper and more varieties,

It mixes celery, onions , garlic, pepper as opposed to chilli Garden district is the area of ​​the large residences of cotton merchants, built between 1810 and 1860, we travel there as still in a good part of the city by tram. The Americans wanted to differentiate themselves from the Franco-Spanish style,

And assert a Victorian style with large reinforcements of columns. At the very beginning, this district had numerous plantations then little by little the places became gentrified to become at the beginning of 1900 the architectural expression of all the wealth of New Orleans at that time; The oldest Lafayette cemetery in the city

Completes the picture, with tombs designed like small houses. Hard to imagine, but within a few minutes outside of town, the marshes surrounding the Mississippi Delta took over. The Barataria reserve was created to protect this wetland area that visitors can explore.

More than 200 species of birds are recorded there and alligators are at home here. Heading west we reach Bayou Teche, along which the Spanish and French followed one another, attracted by the sugar cane plantations. In New Iberia, the Shadow on the Teche house is a unique testimony to this era

. What is important about this residence is that it was the property of a single family for 4 generations between 1834 and 1958, When the National Trust acquired it they found over 17,000 documents that belonged to this family, original documents, letters, receipts, invoices,

As well as many belongings that belonged to them, 85% of what is shown in this house belonged to the Weaks family, it is a treasure for the history of this region On the other side of New Iberia the Conrad rice factory is the oldest in the United States

Still in operation. His store sells the Konriko rice sought after by gourmets. It is the oldest rice store in the United States. It was built in 1912 and rice is still made there today. The factory, as in the past, only operates during the harvest season in October,

And for only a few months. Conrad sells throughout the United States, and has added many rice-related products. A few kilometers to the south, the island of Avery in the middle of the marshes which border the Gulf of Mexico, hides an immense salt mine. This is where the famous chili sauce: Tabasco is made.

The small red peppers are mixed with salt from the mine, after being crushed they will macerate like this for 3 years in wooden barrels which will be covered with salt. After this time, fine vinegar will be added and left to macerate again for a month

To finally be bottled and then exported throughout the world. Edward McLenny, the owner, very quickly created a nature reserve near the mine, the most visible part is Bird City, a developed area where every year hundreds of egrets and herons come to nest

. There are also other marsh regulars such as turtles or alligators. Going further south towards Houma, bayou and marshes share the surface area. A bayou is an old arm or meander of the Mississippi, a trapper’s land. The people who came this way, made a new life for themselves, they became trappers,

At the time it was for the muskrat there were millions of them, they used them for clothing and ate the meat, we also eat raccoon it’s very good, we put it in a pot we boil it for about 20 minutes and then

Put it in the oven with potatoes, carrots and onions. There is a season for trapping but these ones we can kill all year round, it’s like wild pigs, there are a lot of them around here they do a lot of damage, so we can shoot them all year round

On the banks of the bayou, in Gibson, the Greenwood farm raises alligators. Tim will collect eggs in the marshes, a perilous exercise when it comes to keeping the mother away, a female can lay 30 to 70 eggs. After having stayed several weeks in

The incubators, the small alligator when it comes out measures only 10 cm. Approximately 12% of the production will be released into the marshes at the age of one year, thus participating in the repopulation of a species which was threatened in the early 1980s. For older people, the skin is highly sought after by

Luxury houses, the meat for its part is widely consumed in the region. Tim has a weakness for the oldest of the farm, 61 years old and over 4 m long, but he rarely shows himself. Between breeding and purchasing animals from hunters, the farm processes around 5,000 Alligators per year.

The Mississippi has approximately 2000km of waterway and is the 3rd longest river in the world. Many plantations have been established on its banks to take advantage of the transport of goods by boat. Like that of Laura who cultivated sugar cane, whose owners

Today bring back to life the atmosphere of Creole Louisiana at the beginning of the 19th century. Sugar cane was really the engine of the economy in Louisiana, we talk a lot of cotton but south of Baton Rouge, on the river upstream from New Orleans you had about 400 sugar cane plantations of different

Sizes and at the time sugar cane was much more profitable than cotton These walls, these furniture tells the story of 4 generations of the Duparc Locoul family, from the noblest achievements to the violence of another age. You have to imagine that Lousiana was a French colony and

That the population was French-speaking and really came from everywhere not only from France but also from Africa and Canada, it was really a mosaic Laura is one of the rare plantations to having recounted without ambiguity the sad period of slavery. You had about 200 people living together here, whites, blacks,

People in between, Native Americans in this context where everyone was interdependent. Four slave cabins that remain here date from the 1840s and these cabins have were still inhabited by descendants of slaves until 1977. What is less known is that Baton Rouge has been the capital of the state of Louisiana since 1846,

A time when it was considered that New Orleans was too depraved to retain the title. The banks of the river were occupied for several centuries by different Indian tribes, the French began to settle there from 1721. It was the petrochemical industry which would subsequently give undeniable growth to the city.

The former governor’s house is today part of the local heritage, it is occasionally used for large receptions. In 1932 the Capitol was replaced by an immense building 137m high in art deco style, it houses the chamber of state officials as well as the governor’s office

Baton Rouge is also a port of departure for all grain from the Mississippi basins and has the second largest oil refinery in the United States. Going up the river from the North, St Francisville offers us a new dive into history. It is the second oldest city in Louisiana

Founded by Spanish Capuchin monks in the 1730s, delighted to find highlands sheltered from the floods of the Mississippi. Surrounded by plantations, the particularly well-preserved old town is a testimony to the rich residences of the time . The Grace Episcopal Church dates from 1860, many dignitaries of the time are buried all around.

Continuing our route east we find ourselves in Cajun country, in Lafayette. These were the Acadians chased by entire boats from what is now New Scotland to Canada by the English, who arrived en masse in the region, receiving a hostile welcome from the French aristocracy of New Orleans.

The magnificent University of Lafayette was built with these red bricks which are the city’s trademark. Just like the imposing St John Cathedral built in 1821 The town remembers Jean Mouton who was the first to give land to the Acadians so that they could build a church It was another planter Alexandre Mouton

Who became the first Acadian governor of the Louisiana to whom this house pays homage Today Lafayette is also renowned for its international music festival skillfully mixing mixed, French-speaking music from the 4 corners of the planet. This is the first time that we are playing in the United States. America,

And I’m super happy to be with you friends, thank you For me the Louisiana international festival is in a way a family reunion because we are Acadians from Nova Scotia from New Brunswick and then we have this link there through our Francophonie that we have in common, through our history and

Our ethnography in common so for me it is in some way finding the lost family here CY an Acadian group which mixes traditional instruments and songs, to offer a original folk This festival is a huge mix of cultures and music but Zydeco, traditional Cajun music remains essential.

Time to grab a bite to eat, it’s the big stage which welcomes a group from Zimbabwe, Mokoomba. With an eclectic program, in 4 days around fifty groups will have performed in front of several tens of thousands of spectators. Americans like to script their history, the village of Vermilion

Is located where Lafayette grew up. This living Acadian museum allows you to discover the way of life of these migrants between 1765 and 1890. The houses were entirely made of wood. Blacksmith, carpenter, weavers, everything was made on site. That’s just to comb the wool to make a thread,

It takes about a year to make a shirt or a pair of pants, it’s long, that’s how it was to make clothes, it takes time . brings the two strands together and then winds the wool like this between the fingers and it makes a thread My children speak French, just two of

Them, they speak French but they don’t like talking with me, with me it’s in English In the neighboring school, the blackboard recalls the painful assimilation that French speakers had to face at the beginning of the 20th century, a punishment of 100 lines was reserved for anyone who spoke French at school

Chez le menuisier today today they shape memories, whereas at the time everything was made of wood It’s Cypress, black walnut, pine it’s all mixed together, it’s a collage Where did you learn French? I learned with my grandfather. My grandfather was with us when I was a child,

He didn’t speak English, just French, I learned with him When I was a little boy a lot of people here spoke French, almost all the parents, not all but a lot between them. Grandparents, on the other hand, almost all of them

Despite the proximity of Lafayette, nature has been able to resist demographic pressure. It must be said that when marshes, bayous and lakes come together like here at Lake Martin, it is the herons, common cranes and egrets that benefit the most. The lake is shallow, it is bordered by cypresses

Covered with Spanish moss so characteristic of this region. It is a very fine plant, with a thin stem bearing curly leaves, measuring between 2 and 6 cm long and 1 millimeter wide. It reproduces in chains to form structures clinging to trees

. a little further north in Arnaudville, the “Nunu” is an atypical place which offers a cultural, environmental and festive mix , where artistic creation in all its forms is encouraged. Arnaudville still has schools where teaching is done in French, even if they are now an exception in Louisiana.

These ladies meet regularly for different sewing projects We cut squares, then we put that together and then we make a bed cover My first words were in French, when I started school with my first book I only knew Yes or No. I sat like that and paid attention to the

Way others spoke and listened, that’s how I learned, with others. My parents and grandparents always spoke French. On the other side of town, a craft brewery is worth a detour, that of the Knott family, father and son. Its originality lies as much

In the choice of its hops that they bring from Belgium or Germany, as in certain daring creations which make the success of this 100% Cajun beer. Particularly involved in environmental issues, Carlos Knott filters and spreads the wastewater used in manufacturing in a field behind

Which has gradually transformed into a wetland, welcoming many birds. I think people in Louisiana are well connected to the land, all the people here have farms they’re farmers, that’s what we are too, grew things, we raise animals, and we could have build this brewery in

Town and thus have more visitors during the week, but that would not have suited us, as individuals, as Cajun, as Creole It works very well we sell throughout the state, where we sell these are often from a good restaurant, we receive calls from

Consumers who congratulate us saying that they have tried a particular beer with a particular dish, many of our beers have been designed to be able to pair with dishes, this recipe goes very well with crayfish or this one for another recipe In northern Louisiana, they passed a law saying you

Couldn’t speak French at school and you were punished if you spoke French at school. No one from my generation speaks French fluently, we know phrases, we understand more than we speak it, because we were raised in these 2 worlds, during the

Week we went to school, then there had the homework and it was in English, but on the weekend we went to our grandparents, my uncle’s and it was in French throughout the weekend. Continuing our route north, Indian Creek Lake is a very popular place to go camping or take beautiful canoe trips.

In Louisiana we use flat-bottomed boats, with semi-rigid hulls which allow you to fish between two waters as well as to go for a family picnic. The lake was created in the 1970s by the Ministry of Agriculture to have provides a significant water reserve for irrigation while creating a beautiful leisure and camping area.

We are now in Alexandria, the large city in central Louisiana located at the foot of the Red River. This weekend is the Alexander River Fete, a festival which brings together Dragon boat enthusiasts on the river, as well as concerts accompanied by parades of all kinds. In this former Spanish colony, the festival traditionally

Ends with a parade of lights where children and the less young parade, embodying characters straight from their imagination. Heading towards the southwest of the state, we arrive in a region which is the rice basket of the United States. Every year in Crowley we celebrate this cereal which allowed the region to develop.

The city center has an undeniable old-fashioned charm. The town hall is located in a former Ford store, where vehicles were hoisted upstairs using a freight elevator like this famous Model T which dates from 1913. The whole has been restored to install the offices of administration.

The most surprising is undoubtedly the Grand Opera House, a magnificent theater built in 1901 by David Lyons. A place that has seen everything from vaudeville to operas without forgetting the beginnings of silent cinema. The hall was built on 2 floors, using cypress, pine and oak.

These theaters were very common in the United States between 1850 and 1930, but of all these buildings there are only 3% that still have theaters in their walls, and only 1% of these 3% are still used as Big names on the American stage have performed here .

The Paris Opera performed here in 1920, this is what we have been told, in 1920… here in 1908 Captain Racket…Night Brown 1938…Joyce Cabernet 1908… Outside Crowley there are fields of rice as far as the eye can see with despite everything an originality,

When the harvests are finished, the fields fill with water for the breeding of crayfish We plant rice in spring in March and April, it grows and we harvest it in August, we take the rice to the dryer then to storage, we collect it and we sell it

In October we fill the rice fields with water and the crayfish will come out of the bottom, they will have their young, their eggs under their tails , the mother, the female crayfish has her eggs under her tail, then they hatch, like any egg,

There are hundreds of eggs and three months later the larvae become adults The crayfish does not only sustain life the farmers but also all the restaurants which offer huge dishes based on crayfish Continuing towards the west, despite significant industrialization due to oil exploitation, huge wetlands are

Now protected like the Creole nature trail , a circuit which takes the visitor through the marshes to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico Here the birds have taken up residence, without forgetting that the first occupants of the place are the Alligators which swarm both on the banks and in the water

. still heading west, Lake Charles is the last large city before the border with Texas where magnificent colonial residences stretch out on the shores of several lakes . Several Native American tribes occupied the Lake Charles region before the arrival of the first Europeans, of French, Spanish, English,

And Dutch ancestry, arrived starting in the 1760s. At that time, the region was covered in thick forests of pine and bald cypress trees. The city’s development was quite slow until Captain Daniel Goos settled in 1855. He launched a successful trade with ports from Texas to

Mexico. Between 1817 and 1855, lumber produced from longleaf pines and bald cypresses constituted the main economic activity. More than a specialty, Creole boudin in this part of the southwest of the state is an institution, B & O is undoubtedly one of its most eminent representatives.

Jeffrey Benoît, his boss, is currently busy cooking his cracklings, fried pork rind which, as its name suggests, makes it crunchy. After blood sausage, it is the other most popular product in the region. Jeffrey Benoît is the 5th generation to have taken over this delicatessen. From his

French origins, he was able to go back to 1670 where his ancestors lived in Rochefort in France , there it is, there is my father, Dad is this gentleman here, he was co-owner with his cousin, I think that it he’s there The recipe for Louisiana Creole blood sausage is both

Simple and shrouded in mystery in the seasonings that everyone can bring to it. We must start by cooking pork with liver. We add these seasonings to the blood sausage preparation, this is what will give this spicy, slightly salty taste, as you can see there is salt, pepper, green onions and cabbage

The whole thing is then mixed with rice. It is a large region of rice which is why we have rice in the pudding, not all the puddings here are the same, it is a recipe with rice and a sauce, each family has its own way

Of cooking it with different aromatics which means that the blood sausage never has the same taste. The preparation is then placed in this pressure container to obtain the final product. This is the original blood sausage, we have variations, we hang the sausage in the smoker which allows us to obtain different, spicier aromas.

We return to New Orleans to follow one of the biggest carnivals in the world, at the beginning of February since several weeks already the festivals follow one another, on Monday evening, on the eve of Mardi Gras, the carnival will end in apotheosis for more than 24 hours.

The biggest crews, these private teams, offer spectacular parades, while throwing “throws” into the crowd, gifts that are more or less sophisticated depending on the importance of the crew. After Rex who traditionally inaugurates Mardi Gras near the port, it is Orpheus who opens the big parade which will crisscross the city center.

Each crew is like a club, each club welcomes both men and women, anyone can join, there are hundreds of them, 30 to 35 of them put on a big show. People pay dues to be a member of these crews, the amounts range from a few hundred dollars for small crews to

Several thousand dollars for larger ones, all the money goes into organizing their parade. Each crew has a captain, and organizes a parade. In these parades some have 14 floats and others almost 80, there it starts to make a lot of money, expenses can range

From a few thousand dollars to several million. Our biggest client will spend the Saturday before Mardi Gras between 8 and 9 million dollars between 4 p.m. and 4 a.m. the next day, with during those 12 hours an absolutely incredible parade

Barry Kern knows what he’s talking about he runs the biggest company that manufactures these floats, they work all year round for each carnival. Its studios design everything from design to manufacturing, from characters to tanks. We work several years in advance, we know the ideas, the themes of the parades for the

Next few years, we are building 15 parades in our studios, for the biggest parade, the one which takes place the last week, all come from my company, and we worked on it all year round. We also build parades for amusement parks and municipalities, not just

Here or in the United States, I just returned from Mexico City for whom we built and prepared an entire Mardi Gras parade that was used during 45 days in an amusement park The company recently acquired a computer-assisted polystyrene cutting machine, which allows it to have almost limitless creativity

The next day is Mardi Gras, the the most important day of carnival. The regulars will have camped at the edge of the most strategic places both to admire the floats, but also to be close enough to them to be able to catch the gifts that will be thrown

A comfortable night with mobile kitchen for some, barB Q and coolers full of ammunition The emblematic bars and restaurants are taken by storm, most of them privatize their terraces. It is undoubtedly the only city in the world where we see the mayor parading on horseback alongside the police chief

. One of the most renowned and oldest crews is Zulu. Originally it was an African-American mutual aid association for the poor, today their costume, their floats, their sophisticated gifts make them one of the major attractions of the carnival . It’s a real business, nothing that for New Orleans it is an important business

Which makes my employees work all year round, there is our company of course but there are also 8 or 9 other companies which also work all year round building tanks , yes in New Orleans it’s a real business.

No way to find a hotel room anymore, they are all full, everyone comes to town in hundreds of thousands of people, everyone arrives here and all around the city, there is really a lot of money spent , ok studies are studies, but they indicate

That the economic impact each year is between 250 million dollars and a billion What is Mardi Gras for me? having fun, hanging out in town, we are from Orlando, Florida Mardi Gras is at the same time Christmas, New Year,

Birthday all combined into one special day And yes my friend, it’s a crazy day, crazy, crazy, it’s a party, we relax, it’s the time when people enjoy and have a lot of fun. It’s with this festive air that we leave Louisiana, where Cajuns and Creoles still have many surprises to make us discover

La Louisiane est un État aux multiples visages : les premières tribus amérindiennes, les richissimes planteurs européens, les esclaves africains, les acadiens déracinés.
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Ce sont ses vestiges, ses monuments et ses souvenirs qui la rendent passionnante à découvrir entre sauvages bayous et majestueux Mississipi. La Louisiane c’est aussi une autre Amérique où résonne sans cesse quelques notes de jazz sur fond de vieux français, où carnaval et cuisine cajun font le sel de la vie.

Louisiane, l’Amérique créole
Un film de Éric Bacos
©AMP – 2013