Breaux Bridge, La.

Bob and I hit the road for Breaux Bridge, La. Thursday after he got home from work. We’d heard fun tales of this town, “the crawfish capital of the world.” Before writing this blog post, I got out my thesaurus and looked up synonyms for quaint and charming. I fear I’m beginning to sound redundant. But other words don’t quite give the same impression. Most of these towns I visit are, indeed, quaint and charming. This small town is no exception. Just a bit east of Lafayette and in the heart of Cajun French country, Breaux Bridge is named after its founding father, Firmin Breaux, and the bridge which crosses Bayou Teche upon entering the town. Note the crawfish sign at the top of the bridge.

We stayed at Maison Des Amis Bed and Breakfast.

Two hungry cats live in the back yard. And a fig tree grows with the most delectable figs hanging from its branches like giant teardrops of pure sugar. We plucked them from the tree and popped them whole into our mouths. Sweet! Here’s the view from the back of the house. The fig tree is center left.


And the view of the bridge from the gazebo. The bridge "sings" when vehicles cross it. The faster the speed, the higher the pitch.


This delightful town consists of a few restaurants, most notably Café Des Amis – more on that later – several gift shops, and oodles of antique stores. One can browse through Breaux Bridge an entire day. My favorite antique shop is Le Napolean, where I bought a lovely framed Audubon print of a roseate spoonbill.

For dinner Thursday, we ate at Mulates. Live music and dancing every night. Lee Benoit and the Bayou Stompers entertained that evening. Check them out here.

Folks in Cajun country sure know how to have a good time. In between numbers, dancers would sit down and grab a few bites of catfish, crawfish, or gumbo. Then back to the dance floor as soon as the band struck up the next tune. They danced a Cajun version of the Electric Slide which was great fun to watch. (Bob doesn’t dance.) The Cajuns exclaim “Ay-YEE.” Akin, I suppose, to the Texan Yee-Haw. Unless you know the language, forget about understanding the lyrics, but you can’t help but want to dance.


Upon recommendation from a friend, for dessert we tried the Praline Supreme. Vanilla ice cream topped with pecans and laced with rum that packed a supreme kick.

The “breakfast” part of Maison Des Amis Bed and Breakfast is at Café Des Amis, just around the corner.



In addition to the two breakfasts, we ate dinner there Friday night. Breaux Bridge being the “crawfish capital,” we ordered crawfish etoufee and it was fabulous. But the highlight of our visit to Breaux Bridge surely was Café Des Amis’s famed Zydeco Breakfast. Every Saturday morning, a zydeco band – today Same Ol' Two Step -- plays in the front window and the people come out to dance. Some eat breakfast, too. But mostly dance.

I ate a Cajun breakfast staple called couche couche (coosh coosh). It’s similar in texture to mediterranean cous cous, and essentially is grits cooked down till it’s thick and dry. By itself, it’s bland and tasteless. But I can eat anything if there’s enough milk and sugar on it.



The place is jam packed by 8:00. Standing room only. We were lucky to get a table. Amidst countless cups of coffee, (they ran out of mugs and served our coffee in a high-sided Styrofoam bowl) mimosas, bloody marys, and bottles of Bud Light flowed. Revelers so crowded the dance floor they could hardly move. But they managed.

Where else but in southern Louisiana can you have this much fun at 8:30 in the morning? I love this state!