Rural Mardi Gras AND Our Australian TV Debut!

Don't get us wrong - we LOVE New Orleans.

But the thought of wading into a Big Easy Mardi Gras is something better left to young whippersnappers. We took the rural route and learned about the wonderful goings-on in Cajun Country - what they call the REAL Mardi Gras!

Courir de Mardi Gras involves costumed men dancing on horseback, begging, and chicken chasing!

La Grande Boucherie des Cajuns A tradition older than Mardi Gras, is a communal hog butcher and meat fest.

Fais do-do See what Cajuns do once the kids go to bed... CONTINUE READING >>

Also on GypsyNester.com this week:

Our Australian TV Debut!

We were surprised by a TV crew on Valentines Day after  our maiden skydive in Queensland, Australia! We were totally thrown off guard – proven by how completely wind-blown we are!… Enlarge video and leave us a comment >>

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Acadians, Canadians, and Cajuns

There is something quintessentially southern about the Louisiana bayou country known as Acadiana, so it seemed strange that we would go north of the U. S. border to discover its roots and origins.

The Cajuns' ancestry traces directly back to Canada's Maritime Provinces, so there was no better place to begin our investigation than in Nova Scotia at the Grand-Pré National Historic Site. It was along this coast on The Bay of Fundy that the first French settlers to come to the new world arrived in 1605, before... CONTINUE READING >> 

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A Renewed Faith in Humanity From a Simple Gesture

Have you ever found the PERFECT Birthday Card? The absolute ONLY one that will make the receiver's day?

We had been carting this card around with us for quite some time - months. That's what we do, when we find the ideal card for one of our family or friends we buy it, no matter how long it may be until the occasion that it celebrates. This one was perfect for our oldest, The notoriously carrot-hating Piglet.

Flash forward to a sunny, wildly windy day in Lafayette, Louisiana, a parade of dogs and a birthday card for our eldest to be mailed. What a pretty picture. And it was, until I noticed that the card was no longer in my coat pocket... CONTINUE READING >>

Food for Thought: How Food Enhances Travel

An old adage says that you don't really know someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. We believe it is just as true that you don't really know a place until you eat a plate of its food.

There is so much more to visiting a destination than seeing the sights. We try to immerse... CONTINUE READING >> 

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A Renewed Faith in Humanity From a Simple Gesture

Have you ever found the PERFECT Birthday Card? The absolute ONLY one that will make the receiver's day?

We had been carting this card around with us for quite some time - months. That's what we do, when we find the ideal card for one of our family or friends we buy it, no matter how long it may be until the occasion that it celebrates. This one was perfect for our oldest, The notoriously carrot-hating Piglet.

Flash forward to a sunny, wildly windy day in Lafayette, Louisiana, a parade of dogs and a birthday card for our eldest to be mailed. What a pretty picture. And it was, until I noticed that the card was no longer in my coat pocket... CONTINUE READING >>

A Town Standing on Stilts

There is something about driving to the very tip of a place, the end of the line, land's end, that we can't resist. It's kind of like climbing a mountain for us, we do it because it's there. In Louisiana that point where State Highway 1 hits the water is Grand Isle.

Building a road across this expanse of wetland took extensive... CONTINUE READING >>

French Quarter Pounder

Mention New Orleans and most folks conjure up visions of Mardi Gras, jazz bands, Bourbon Street or maybe even the world champion Saints, but we think of food. Crazy good food.

An incredibly diverse, yet unique style cooking has developed through the combination of several cultures down here at the bottom of The Mississippi River. Elements of French, Spanish, Caribbean, Cajun, German and Italian cuisine are all represented in what has come to be known as Creole.

Several of Creole's signature dishes are very similar to typical Cajun recipes and can share the same names and ingredients. Most start with “the holy trinity” of Louisiana cooking, bell pepper, onion, and celery. The names jambalaya...  read more

Do Alligators Like Tabasco?

For a long time roads weren't an option in South Louisiana. This was some wild country back in the day, not Bourbon Street wild, but wilderness wild. The incredibly wet, squishy ground made bayous the only reasonable routes for transportation and Bayou Teche was the Superhighway. Following The Teche, we set out to discover the real... read more

Let Us Run This Bayou

In Louisiana, the area south of I-10 and west of New Orleans is a “whole 'nudder t'ing.” Over the years we've made periodic pilgrimages and would be hard-pressed to come up with a part of this great country that we are more fond of. Through hardship and isolation, a society singular to this region has developed with its own food, music and unique language. We love spending time in amongst it all

The main factor in the... read more