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Lalaurie Mansion
One of the most unique homes in the state is the
castle in The Lalaurie Mansion, a house
haunted by its past, and by the ghosts that still wander the rooms
and halls, looking for justice and a release from this horrible
place. This house has one of the most haunting stories of any in the
city or the French Quarter, telling a tale of 150 years of
brutality, horrific and gruesome as any story ever told. Some say,
this is the most haunted house in the quarter, or the city, or even
the nation, because over 100 slaves were grotesquely murdered,
mutilated and massacred by the Lalaurie generations; depraved and
more than insane, since they put on such a fabulous and exciting
front to the city that became their hunting grounds and butcher
shop. The horrible story begins way back in 1832, when Dr. Louis
Lalaurie and his wife, Delphine, moved into this Creole mansion in
the French Quarter and soon were well known for their elaborate
social affairs. Respected for their money, importance and statue,
Madame Lalaurie was soon the most influential woman in the city,
taking care of the business affairs of the family, being very
stylish and raising her daughters. They became the best attired
young females in the city and those that considered themselves
fortunate enough to be invited to one of the galas were surprised
and awed by the furnishings found there. This three story mansion,
not very spectacular on the outside as you can see by the photo to
the right, did have some interesting iron work, but it was the
interior that astounded the visitors coming here. The mansion was
attired itself in grandeur with mahogany hand carved doors, with
human faces and flowers, that opened up into beautiful parlors, lit
by hundreds of candles in huge chandeliers. European china to dine
on and oriental fabrics and rugs that were used for dancing and
sitting; imported from Asia at immense expense. The Madame was
thought to be the most beautiful and intelligent woman in the
quarter and was always the center of conservation by all. Those
guests were lavished with all of Delpnine's attention, pampered and
spoiled by the intensity of it all. However, this was the public
Delphine, the exterior facade that was impressed and adored by all;
not the cold-blooded, cruel woman she really was, suspected by a
few, and known by some. The house's adornments were taken care of by
dozens of slaves, and the woman of the house was more than harmful
to these slaves. Her cook was actually chained to the fireplace so
that she could cook the fantastic meals that delighted her guests,
and other servants treated even worse. In that period, slaves were
not considered human, but rather animals, like cattle or dogs or
even less. Personal property to be used and abused at the whim of
their owners. Soon stories by their neighbors began to float around
the quarter, slave maids that were gone one day and replaced the
next, stable boys that just seem to disappear, never to be seen
again. The whispers seemed to grow. Finally, a neighbor was entering
her house when she heard a scream and saw Delphine chasing her
personal slave girl with a whip. The young girl was so distraught
that she ran out onto the roof and jumped to her death. Later that
day, there appeared a shallow grave out under the cypress trees in
the back yard. There was a law in the city about the cruel and
unreasonable treatment of slaves, and after the neighbor told the
authorities, they came and took the slaves away, selling them at an
auction. Unknown to many was the fact that Delphine had talked her
relatives into buying them and then selling them back to her
secretly. The stories grew, as the amount of guests and visitors
declined, until the family was politely avoided by the rest of the
Creole society. Until April of 1834, when everything went crazy. A
fire broke out in the kitchen, many thought by the cook who was
chained there and couldn't stand the pain and suffering she endured
from her torture, but the blaze swept through the house. When the
fire had been put out, the firemen uncovered a hideous secret that
was hid behind a barred door into the attic. There were over a dozen
slave s chained to the wall, in a most horrendous condition, both
female and male, a few strapped to homemade operating tables, others
kept locked in dog cages; and most disgusting of all, the human body
parts that lay all around the huge room. Heads, organs, bloody
masses, some in buckets, grotesque souvenirs stacked on shelves;
next to a collection of whips, paddles and other torturous devices.
It was the most incredible sight that anyone in the city had even
seen, heard of or dreamed about. The New Orleans Bee, a local
newspaper, stated that all the victims were naked, those not
strapped to tables were chained to the wall, with some women's
stomachs cut open and the entrails wrapped around their wrists. One
poor creature, a woman had her mouth full of animal excrement, and
her lips were sewn together. The male slaves were even in more
horrible condition, with fingernails ripped off, eyes poked out and
their privates butchered off. The tortures were such that death was
slow and long; and most emphatically painful. One man had a stick
stuck into a hole that had been drilled into his head so that his
brains could be stirred around. Others were in even more despicable
condition, so bad that it would be pointless in writing anymore
terrible disgusting things about it. Needless to say that it was the
most unbelievable torture chamber that ever has been heard of in
this country in that day and age. Citizens of the city came to the
house with lynching ropes, but a carriage came racing out of the
gates and went through the crowd without a problem. The Lalaurie
family was gone, no one would ever hear about them again, which was
fine with all those that had known them. Nothing was ever written or
said about the family again, although there have been many theories.
But as soon as the carriage was gone, the haunting and ghostly
apparitions began. The story has more to say, about the screams and
apparitions, the vagrants that went in to get out of the cold or
rain, never to be seen or heard of again. The house fell into
disrepair, and after the Civil War, it was turned into a high school
for girls of the lower district; but in 1874, the White League
forced the black girls to leave and some time later, a
segregationist school board made it for black girls only. That was
only for a year. In 1882, an English teacher made it into a school
of music and dancing, and it became a social center for the city's
society again. Then something happened, was said and accusations
against the teacher, just when a grand social affair was about to
happen, students and guests stopped coming there and it closed the
next day. More stories were added to this one, as the years went by,
and the house enticed buyers until it horrible secrets came to life.
If you dare, it is a place that might be interesting to some, but to
many, a place to keep far away from.
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Cajun Country Swamp Tour
The Louisiana swamp tour in
Cajun Country is one of those fantastic rides that you have to take
to get a feel of the swamps that lie in the heart of the state.
While there are numerous companies that will take you there, only a
few will give you a wonderful experience. This tour is located just
half a dozen miles from Interstate 10, off exit 109, and 15 minutes
down the road a piece. Here in a surreal cypress swamp, you will
cross the historical Bayou Teche and go through the little Cajun
village of Breaux Bridge. Your guide is an experienced commercial
fisherman, native to the swamps, and an outdoorsman who loves nature
and has degrees in botany and zoology. The swamp area is around
Cypress Island/Lake Martin Swamp and is well known for its
magnificent scenery and wildlife. Here you will thrill to see
alligators, herons, egrets, bayous and ancient cypress trees
standing deep in the waters with their Spanish moss hanging down in
great clumps. This is why you came here, the real swamps of the
south, where you can smell, feel and see the difference, and
experience the wonders of nature. The boat that takes you is an open
Cajun crawfish skiff, small enough to get into the center of the
swamp, but big enough to give 15 people an exciting and memorable
ride. The boat is powered by an environmentally friendly and quiet 4
stroke engine and all the tours are ecotours.
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