The Laura Creole plantation was the best part of the trip. A plantation owned and managed by a woman. It was not the traditional southern plantation. Oak Alley is the traditional plantation and a beautiful property. Mr Torres has interesting stories about life in the swamp as you cruise through the swamp. We saw alligators within seconds of leaving the dock. Our tour guide Muriel was wonderful. She was extremely helpful. It is an all day tour but well worth it since the swamp and plantations are both in the same area outside of New Orleans.
We were picked up promptly at 8:00 from our hotel by Dylan. He was a local who had grown up in New Orleans. He was informative, funny, and had great energy all throughout the day.
We drove about an hour outside of the city to see the first plantation Laura. Our guide at Laura was Rose, if you can make sure you had her as your guide, she is phenomenal, lots of energy and mostly very passionate about her job. She had a great way of telling the story of the Laura plantation and kept us entertained and informed. I love how the preservation society had kept as much as they could about the plantation authentic. We had a historical and emotional journey I will never forget.
Next was lunch at Oak Alley, we were in for a surprise! This was the best meal we had in New Orleans, the most authentic and homemade. Our meal began with a fresh salad, iced tea, and homemade bread. We then were served a small bowl of gumbo followed by a plate of rice with jambalaya, and crawfish étouffée. Lastly we were given a choice of either bread pudding or buttermilk pie for dessert. Everything was delicious and eaten eagerly.
Our next plantation was Oak Alley, well known for it's movie and TV appearances like "Interview with a Vampire". It was a different plantation experience, not as detailed in the slave life as Laura was, more about the family that lived there and how they lived. We were given a full tour and then invited to purchase mint julep and walk around the grounds. It was beautiful and peaceful.
Our next stop was the Swamp tour with Mr Torres. He was quite a character, grew up in Cajun country on the Bayou that he now takes tourists on. He had an amazing knowledge of survival in the bayou and probably could do his own TV show! We actually saw alligators, snakes, turtles, and nutria! We had a couple from Montreal and he was able to speak fluent French to them explaining everything in both languages.
Overall I would recommend this tour it was a life experience!
We loved it our guide was wonderful, he had a Very pleasant speaking voice and was easy to listen to and was very knowledgeable. Having the two different plantations gave a great perspective. Our Swamp tour guide was also an absolute delight. Everything ran on schedule was well thought out and was exactly what we expected. It was great to get out of the craziness for a day and see more than just the quarter. Also very grateful to be in a van not a bus with a sound system for the guide. Good job