Tuesday, September 18th - Swamp Tour

For two days now, we have been looking for beignets for breakfast, just like at the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Monday we had to "settle" for Cracker Barrel. Yesterday afternoon, at the KonRiKo rice mill, the guide told us that the Cafe des Amis in Breaux Bridge has beignets. So, we started our day with a stop at Cafe des Amis. Trouble was, they didn't open until 11:00 so we had 45 minutes to kill. After getting some mocha lattes around the corner, we went back. Turns out, beignets are only served on week-ends. The hostess said to try the local donut shop. Well, they DO serve beignets BUT they had sold out for the day. We left, sad, brooding and melancholy when the donut lady came to the car and asked us to take some free donuts with us because she was closing up and would have to throw them away. Oh, and by the way, come back for beignets tomorrow, she would hold some aside for us.

We drove out to Lake Martin, south of Breaux Bridge to take a swamp tour. I called Brian Champagne, owner and operator of Champagne Swamp Tours and he said that he was on a trip now and to meet us around noon for a trip. We bought some water and returned to meet Brian.

The tour lasted about two hours. We saw four alligators, egrets, herons, turtles, spiders and much more. It was very enjoyable.

We stopped off at a fruit stand and purchased large shrimp that MA boiled for dinner for the four of us in our coach.