French Twist: Exploring the Acadian Region of Louisiana Study Tour

THURSDAY MARCH 27-SUNDAY MARCH 30, 2025

NOTE: This study tour is sold out. Please email [email protected] to have your name placed on a waiting list. Thank you.

Double Occupancy: $2800

Single Occupancy: $3100

Join the Seminar for a four-day motorcoach tour of the Cajun-Creole country in southwest Louisiana. We will depart from and return to Houston, and our lodgings will be in Lafayette, Louisiana. We will explore the rich cultures—architecture, cuisine, music—and the natural environment of this historic bayou country in the heart of Acadian Louisiana. Highlights include a visit to the historic Cajun-Creole village of Vermilionville and tours of Avery Island’s Tabasco Sauce Factory and Museum and Jungle Garden bird sanctuary. We will also make stops at the Shadows-on-the-Teche historic home in New Iberia and the Acadian Memorial and Evangeline Oak Park in St. Martinville. A swamp boat tour on Lake Martin will take us into the heart of this unique nature preserve and aviary rookery and will be followed by a “Secret Supper” underneath the oaks at Maison Madeleine. The tour will be led by Louisiana cultural historian and naturalist Charles Chamberlain and architectural historian Stephen Fox.

Charles Chamberlain is a professor of history at the University of New Orleans, concentrating on Louisiana studies and music history. He received his PhD in U.S. history from Tulane University, and his upcoming book Gumbo Ville (LSU Press, 2025) covers the complete history of New Orleans. Professor Chamberlain has worked as a museum professional, curator, and consultant on numerous exhibits throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. Since 2014, he has served as a licensed tour guide for the City of New Orleans. As an active musician, he performs a variety of styles— jazz, blues, American roots, and traditional French music.

Stephen Fox is an architectural historian and lecturer at the Rice University School of Architecture and the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston. His work focuses on architecture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with a particular emphasis on how architecture engages such social constructs as class identity, cultural distinction, and regional differentiation.

Itinerary

March 27-30, 2025

Lynn Kelly, 713-256-3244

Katherine Kohlmeyer, 713-582-9000

Thursday – March 27

8:00 Meet at St. Luke’s UMC, 3471 Westheimer Rd. We will board the bus from the parking lot located behind the church on Edloe St. If you are parking, please use the upper floors of the parking garage.

8:30 Depart promptly for Lafayette, no stops. We will show a short documentary, Ancestral Artistry, produced by the Louisiana Architecture Foundation. The documentary examines the rich architectural legacy that began with early Africans and Creoles of Color in Louisiana.

12:30 Arrive Lafayette. Our first stop is historic Vermilionville for lunch at La Cuisine de Maman and tour of the Acadian Village.

3:15 Depart for Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist for a short visit, and then on to the Hilliard Art Museum. After our tour of the museum, we will walk across the street to the Alumni Center at University of Louisiana Lafayette. Our reception will be held in the Heymann House by A. Hays Town.

5:45 Depart for hotel

6:00 Check-in Spring Hill Suites South at River Ranch

7:15 Meet in lobby for a short drive to Broussard for dinner

7:30 Poor Boy’s Riverside Inn, Broussard

9:00 Return to hotel

Friday, – March 28

8:30 Meet in lobby

8:45 Depart for Avery Island

9:30 Cathy Thomason, the great granddaughter of Edward Avery “Ned” McIlhenny, will join us for a special driving tour through the Jungle Gardens. After the tour, we will have free time to explore the Tabasco museum, factory, and store.

12:15 Depart for Rip Van Winkle Gardens. Lunch at Café Jefferson followed by self-guided tour of the Rip Van Winkle Gardens.

3:15 Depart

4:00 Arrive Spring Hill Suites

5:15 Depart for Grand Coteau

6:00 Evening tour of the Academy of the Sacred Heart

7:30 Dinner and music – Prejean’s, Carencro

9:00 Return to hotel

Saturday – March 29

8:45 Meet in Lobby

9:00 Depart

9:30 Shadows-on-the-Teche, New Iberia. We will continue north to St. Martinville. We will start at town square and have a short walk to St. John’s.

11:45 Lunch, St. John’s

Eddie Cazayoux, acclaimed architect whose firm,EnvironMental Design, practices sustainable architecture and historic preservation will join us to discuss the Ancestral Artistry documentary and architecture of Acadia. We are indebted to Mr. Cazayoux for his assistance in planning this trip.

1:15 Depart for Breaux Bridge. This afternoon we will visit Robert E. Smith’s Au Vieux Paris Antiques followed by tour of Mr. Smith’s residence. (see NYT handout)

4:00 Cajun Country Swamp Tour

5:45 Secret Supper – Maison Madeleine. Tonight we will enjoy a four-course dinner with wines all served with the backdrop of Grammy nominated artists performing in a unique, historic Acadian setting.

9:00 Return to hotel

Sunday – March 30

9:00 Check-out of Spring Hill Suites. This morning we will return to Lafayette for driving tour of University Campus, Bendel Gardens and Sterling Grove.

10:00 Depart for Abbeville. We will first visit a private home by A. Hays Town, the Noel House.Then Onézieme Mouton, an Abbeville native and Rice School of Architecture alum, will join us for a walking tour and visit to an example of his preservation projects.

12:00 Lunch – RiverFront Restaurant, Po Boys and Bloody Marys

1:30 Depart for Houston. During our return trip, we’ll show The Louisiana Story. This 1948 film depicts the idyllic life of a young Cajun boy and his pet raccoon, and what follows when the tranquility of the bayou is broken by an oil well drilling near his home.

5:30 Arrive St. Luke’s parking lot

Laissez les bons temps rouler!!

Registration Details

Reservations will be made on a first come-first served basis upon receipt of a $500 deposit, and the below registration forms found at this link.

Travel Registration and Cancellation Policy

Reservations will be made on a first come-first served basis upon receipt of a $500 deposit, and the registration form. Payment in full is due on January 27, 2025. Reservations received after January 27, 2025, may be accepted if space is available and payment is made in full. Your reservation is not confirmed until you have received written confirmation from the Houston Seminar.

If payment in full for the tour is not made by January 27, 2025, your reservation will be canceled, and your $500 deposit will be forfeited. Should the Houston Seminar cancel the tour for any reason, your deposit and any additional payments will be refunded in full. Should you have to cancel for any reason, you must notify the Houston Seminar in writing. For cancellations before January 27, 2025, all payments, less the $500 deposit, will be refunded. A cancellation between January 27, 2025, and February 27, 2025, will result in the forfeiture of your $500 deposit plus 50% of all other amounts paid. After February 27, 2025, cancellation will result in the forfeiture of 100% of all amounts paid. We recommend that you consider purchasing travel insurance.

Required Registration Forms Link