Paddling on Lake Martin

Just a few miles south of Breaux Bridge is Lake Martin where we discovered one can rent various sorts of kayaks or even take tour boat rides. We drove from the campground and soon had ourselves a double sit-on-top kayak to paddle about on.

 

Much of the lake's shoreline is a cypress swamp with what looks like drowned trees, but in fact this is their habitat along with lots of other things. The latter include the occasional alligator, but much more frequently we saw birds and fish. The water quality was questionable as it seemed full of green algae to the point of a serious bloom. I'm wondering if agricultural runoff is a problem here or whether it's natural having so much algae...

 

In the middle of the lake, there were several hunting blinds. It wasn't hunting season, but the blinds apparently are left up all year and are quite elaborate. The hunter's can drive their boats right inside the blind and then get out on an attached shooting platform. All of this is covered with vegetation which at this time of the year had gone brown and will likely need to be replaced before the next hunting season begins.

So a nice little adventure, especially for my partner who had not had much paddling experience in gator infested waters!

Louisiana - Breaux Bridge

Safely parked in our first Louisiana campground in Breaux Bridge, just off the I-10 highway. The highway had been horrendous because of its undulating surface which was so bad I was forced down to 40 kph and running the flashers! It was unbelievable that an interstate highway was still in this condition, especially in an oil state, but there you go...

The campground facilities were excellent and other than the road noise from the nearby highway, we had little to complain about.

 We were lucky to run into a lady walking her dog in a little park beside the river. She took the time to lead us in her car to the Pont Breaux bar and grill. This turned out to be a very drab looking place from the outside, but was a legendary place for Cajun music. Just about everyone you can imagine has either played here or visited. We stayed for lunch and then a few days later returned for supper and to listen to some live music. The place was packed on a week night forcing us to wait at the bar for a table.

Breaux Bridge is on the Bayou Teche, a muddy looking river which slipped along one end of the campground. This lovely house was right beside the town bridge crossing the river. I loved the colours, the flowers, the whole setting of this house!

Meanwhile, the Bayou makes its muddy way through the rest of the town and on to the sea.

We enjoyed the town and found it a great place to explore the surrounding territory for local colour, music and food!

I even met a fellow Quebeçois who thought he might have met me in Kuujjuaq in 1974!  Possible, but I didn't recognize him...