It was great. A good driver/ guide and a good guide for the swamp ride.
Awesome tour. Both plantations were marvellous with awesome local guides. The gumbo was supa yummy, the yummiest gumbo I've had in New Orleans. The swamp was alright, a bit disappointed that I didn't get the chance to see alligators but it was due to the cold weather.Beautiful swamp.
My wife and I took the Grand tour which included Laura and Oak Alley Plantations and a boat tour of the bayous with an experienced hunter, trapper. It was a great counterpoint to the city tour the day before because it gave us a better understanding of life then and now in southern Louisiana.
The Laura Plantation was a surprise because it was not the grand colonnaded structure of Tara in "Gone With the Wind". It is an example of a creole plantation with a surrounding veranda on the second story living quarters. There were only four rooms. A very workman like living quarters for owners who only occasionally visited. Oak Alley was the "movie" type of plantation with three stories of living space and majestic columns at the entrance, It got its name from the two rows of 300 year old oak trees which frame the entrance from the river levee. As might be expected this plantation has been used in a number of feature films.
An included lunch was served to the rear of Oak Alley and was very good. The tour guide at Oak Alley was dressed in period costume and with pal skin and black hair done in falling curls, she looked as if she stepped out of one of the photos of former residents.
Slave quarters at the rear of the main buildings were replicas since the originals had long since decayed. The stark difference in living conditions was evident. The tour was informative and varied. The Laura folks could learn from the Oak Alley folks, though, because Oak Alley offered an experience while the Laura tour was almost perfunctory.
In the afternoon, we went to a small town on a major bayou where we were met by a lifelong resident and alligator hunter, Roland Torres. He was the real deal. No airs, just a good ole boy giving us city folk a taste of his world. We went in a covered bayou boat with Roland as our pilot and raconteur. He interspersed information with stories and lore. We were totally entertained and informed.
This was an excellent experience that I would recommend to anyone.