We had no idea how cool our day would be today when it started. Although I must say, we shouldn’t really be surprised, given each day has delivered something special in unusual places.

The pack up and check out is seamless and only with a short hour and half drive ahead of us we set off knowing our AirBNB host has said to us we can check in any time. With the car packed we hit the road. The multilane highway has made our journey feel long, with not much to see or stop in at. That is of course the incredible amount of bug spatter caking up on our windscreen. It’s conversation worthy, as we’ve not had this on any of our road trips here or in Australia to such an extent.

We are taking a slight detour to restock at Walmart in Lafayette and we soon got a closer look at the type of bugs who’d lost their lives on our windscreen. They are paired up, procreating and propagating. And they are EVERYWHERE. I no longer feel so bad about the hundreds that had seen their end on our trip, they’ll be replaced in no time at.

We soon roll into Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and turn into our cottage Chez Moi. It is so cute and cozy and once again a wonderful choice. It’s so charming and we feel cosy and at home right away.

We let our host Yvette know we’ve checked in safely, and she immediately replies and says if we wanted to say hi, to just pop out of the cottage. Boy am I glad we did. We were busy downloading local knowledge from her and as a bug flies by she explains they are the love bugs. Apparently only mate 2 weeks of every year, and we just so happen to be here for that – lucky us, not so lucky for our windscreen. She also shares that she was born in the cottage we are staying. Apparently the large family home she lives in now was her grandparents, while her mum and dad lived in the cottage before having her. Talk about a story.

We carry on to ask a few curious questions which uncovers her musical talent. She’s a singer/musician who’s traveled all over the world, both an original artist and cover music. With Matthew’s follow up questions about what instrument she plays and subsequently what guitar she plays, the stage is literally set for a super special moment. She quickly invites us over to her place, so she can show Matthew a few of her guitars.

Each guitar there has a story:

• Her most used guitar – A 1966 Gibson
• A custom acoustic/electric – made and gifted to her by James Trussart (a guitar maker to the stars)
• Another custom guitar – gifted to her by a guy she played with that just so happened to be a guitar maker at Gibson

Each story is really is incredible to hear. She soon asks if we want to hear a song. So while seated on her back patio, we are treated to a personal concert by Yvette Landry as she sang to us the first song she ever wrote (and also featured on her breakout album called “Where memories are gold”). We later we find out is a big deal around the music scene around here only courtesy of a Google search, and not because she let on, and also she has won a Grammy this year, and was nominated for a Grammy in 2015 too. I mean, you can’t make this shit up.

To say our hearts were full would be an understatement, and the look on Matthew’s face told me “can you believe this is happening?”. But if that wasn’t enough, she also played the Cajun Accordion. Before she played it she explained the complexities of the instrument. It’s kind of insane and a bit much for my simple brain, but she then demonstrates and we are suitably impressed. She even takes the time to give Matthew a quick lesson. It kind of works like a harmonica which is different to a regular accordion. So very cool indeed.

What a welcome to Breaux Bridge, and it’s only lunch time. On that note our stomachs call and we farewell our lovely host Yvette in search of treasures and lunch.

The town is in walking distance so we grab a bottle of water and set off. The walk into town crosses the Bayou and we look upstream and spot something we first thought was a stick or a duck, but soon realise its an alligator. Quintessential Louisiana. I was singing the song from Disney’s Princess and the Frog “going down the Bayou” and couldn’t get it out of my head.

The walk into town is short and we spot Yvette painted on an electrical box in town and weave our way in and out of the stores and vintage malls here.

The vintage malls here are something only seen to be believed. Like others, you turn around a corner, only to be met with another warehouse sized space to explore. Disney diving strikes again and as we’d already found a lunch spot we heard about from Yvette, we decide to head back to take a breather from the heat and regroup for the afternoon as dinner plans are sorted.

Regrouped and ready to take on our dining spot we jump in the car and head to Crawfish Town. We show up and CT-USA looks like nothing from the outside. Boy was I wrong. The treasures and stories inside were so much more than the exterior represented.

We were told we could head to the bar and given menus to check out. You’d be forgiven if you missed where the crawfish were on those menus, but we chat about the fact that it’s not all year crawfish are around and obviously they need to make money all the other times of the year and couldn’t be the star of the menu for that exact reason.
We really don’t know what we’re doing, sit up at the bar and rely upon a little bit of local knowledge and pass to our bartender for everything we need to know. We explain to him it’s our first crawfish experience and he disappears and quickly reappears with a ‘taster’ and an education. We soon learn his name is Andrew and demonstrates how to deconstruct a crawfish in such a way that you can’t help but just love him. 2lbs of crawfish are on their way as a result.

We chat with a couple at the bar who are New Orleans (NOLA) locals in town for a music festival that our AirBNB host Yvette is playing at in Lafayette, who strangely know not a lot about the area we are staying in over the weekend ahead. They are from the ‘north shore’ of NOLA and apears that they keep to their own area. Not in a snobby way, but the guys has the kind of NOLA accent I’ve heard from the firefly, Raymond, in Princess and the Frog – very strong.

That aside we are waited on in the kindest of ways by Andrew and his offsider (name unknown). We are crawfish converts and pass the time hearing about their lives and our exchanges are so authentic, lovely and very Southern.

Such a ridiculously beautiful day today filled with great experiences and people. Tomorrow should offer more fun, experiences and stories to tell. God I love how we travel.

Want to play catch up on our travels – full blog here