Today was "Visit a Plantation Day" & the taxi that we had arranged the night before to take us out there arrived @ 10.45am. After driving for almost 2hrs (it's a 45 minute journey, but he got lost 3 times!!!), the famous "Oak Alley Plantation" was finally spotted on horizon just before 1pm.
"Oak Alley Plantation" - The Grande Dame of the Great River Road is located in Vacherie, Louisiana, and rests along the banks of the Mississippi River between New Orleans & Baton Rouge. Built in 1839, the plantation is internationally renowned for its 800 feet long alley of 28 evenly spaced giant Live Oak Trees, from which the property derived its present name. Planted well before the house was constructed in 1837, this formal planting is a historic landscape design long recognized for its beauty.
This National landmark is recognized for having one of the most spectacular settings in the entire South and has been the setting for motion pictures such as "Interview with a Vampire" & "Primary Colours".
We did the 1pm tour of the mansion which was conducted by a guide dressed in period costumes and lasting about 40 minutes. What we learned was:
"Originally named Bon Sejour, Oak Alley was built in 1837-39 by George Swainey for Jacques Telesphore Roman, brother of Andre Roman who was twice governor of Louisiana. Joseph Pilie, Jacques Telesphore Roman's father-in-law, was an architect and is thought to have provided the design of Oak Alley.
Oak Alley's most distinguishing architectural feature is a full peripteral (free-standing) colonnade of 28 colossal Doric columns. Such plantation houses were once scattered along the Mississippi valley, though Oak Alley is probably the finest of those remaining.
In 1866, Oak Alley was sold at auction to John Armstrong. Several owners followed Armstrong, and by the 1920s, the house was is in a state of deterioration. Andrew and Josephine Stewart purchased the property in 1925 and hired architect Richard Koch to conduct an extensive restoration. The pale pink of the plastered columns and walls and the blue green of the louvered shutters and gallery railing were color choices of Mrs. Stewart at that time. Square in plan, the interior has a central hall from front to rear on both floors. At each end of both halls the doors have broad fanlights and sidelights framed with slim, fluted colonnettes. Rooms at the first floor rear were partitioned and adapted to modern uses at the time of restoration in the 1920s". Source: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/louisiana/oak.htm
On the way back to New Orleans we viewed majestic Cypress trees in Louisiana's swamps bordering the Mississippi River. Back in New Orleans we dined @ a great little restaurant on Bourbon St & then I did "The New Orleans Ghost & vampire Tour" -the others said that they were tired - I believe that they were too scared to do the tour - that's what I believe...
The tour started at Flanaghan's Pub in St Phillip St, allegedly the most haunted street in the French Quarter. At 8pm the tour proceeded to weave through the shadowy, darkened streets taking us to locations associated with ghostly apparitions, paranormal activity and the supernatural as well as vampiric-style crimes.
Sites included:
* The Lalaurie Mansion - For more than 150 years, and through several generations, this house at 1140 Royal Street has been considered to be the most haunted, which in April 2007 Nicholas Cage allegedly purchased, and the most frightening location in the French Quarter.
* The Sultan's Retreat,
* The Witch of The French Opera,
* The Ghost of The Quadroon Mistress,
* Pere Dagobeat of the St Louis Cathedral
* The spectre of General P.G.T Beauregard, plus
* Anne Rice sites.
The tour went about 1.5hrs and although interesting didn't live up to my expectations, but then they don't always - not scary enough - To say that the scariest moment was when an egg was thrown from a balcony window and narrowly missed myself & the guide should sum up the tour...
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