The Bayou, near New Orleans, USA, 11th November 2014.
It would be easy to think of the Bayou as a wilderness populated by alligators and escaped convicts, an inscrutable maze in which all who enter become hopelessly lost. This is far from the truth.
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Here are habitations deep inside the bayou. It is a monochrome post because two thirds of the underlying images were infrared and one third regular and I decided to skip colour.
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Houma Indians lived in the bayou, making use of the abundant fishing and wildlife. They were historical allies of the French and many still speak a French dialect as their primary language.
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Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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From the end of the eighteenth century, people of non-Indian descent began to move into the bayou. French is still the dominant language spoken amongst locals.
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Though fishing and wildlife are plentiful, mosquitos can be too so it is not necessarily a very healthy place to live.
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It also can’t have been a very good place to hide out from Hurricane Katrina and there are many signs of devastation from that time.
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Houses range from the modest …
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… to the somewhat grand
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… and many are rather the worse for wear
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though all retain an undeniable charm.
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A small fishing boat, I presume.
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West Pearl Bridge. The two towers look just like the ones used in mines to raise and lower cages in mine shafts. Maybe that’s exactly what they are. Clearly, though, this is not a bridge like Tower Bridge in London that parts from the middle and raises to the sides; this is a case where the towers raise and lower the whole central section, as controlled by the small room in the middle.
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Notice says: West Pearl Bridge {Phone number} No operator on duty; Require 4 hours advanced notice for bridge openings.
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Boats and houses behind the bridge.
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And finally, a house with aspirations towards becoming a house boat.
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Murray Foote 
A fascinating glimpse of the houses of the Bayou. Interesting that they still speak French as a primary language.
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… especially when you consider that New Orleans was Spanish almost as long as it was French. French 1718-1763; Spanish 1763-1800 (aftermath of the seven years war); French 1800-1803 (when Napoleon occupied Spain); US from 1803 (The Louisiana Purchase).
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It’s a wonder they don’t have a spoken language problem 🙂
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Very interesting post, Murray. I have long been curious about the bayou but, being the perfect food for mosquitos, would likely never venture there in person.
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I don’t think we encountered any. It was early November but probably mid summer is another matter.
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[…] Bayou Village […]
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Hi Murray, love your photos. I was on Pearl river 2 years ago, and I am about to go back to Louisiana soon. I am on a global trip in my car, and one of my biggest desires is to go back to the Bayou. I want to experience living in a cabin in the swamps. Can you please share where you took your photos – my email is willowwanderwell@gmail.com website willowwanderwell.com
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Hi Willow and thank you. I can’t tell you with any precision where I took the photos. There was no GPS location for any of the images and I don’t know what company we used for the boat trip in the Bayou. However, the one recognisable feature is the West Pearl Bridge and you can get a location for that here: http://bridgehunter.com/la/st-tammany/625200060705291/ .
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Hi Murray, thanks so much. Couple questions. Are your photos for sale?
And — You know the place called the “Lite House” — it’s in one of your photos. When I was there I was told that this is an actual venue for musical performances. Can you confirm that, and would you have any idea how to contact someone there?
Tom MacNair, Portland
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Hi Tom.
I was only on a boat tour and I have no information about the “Lite House”. Near the end of the tour was the West Pearl Bridge and looking that up on Google maps, there’s a swamp tour company nearby “Cajun Encounters”. That was probably the one I took so you could drop them a line and ask them. They or their operators should know.
Yes I can sell photos. I’ll send you an email about that.
By the way I was in Portland last year (I live in Australia) and we visited Washington State and drove down the coast to San Francisco. What impressed me most was Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park in Washington. Hopefully most of that has survived the recent fires.
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