The floating bog of weeds and logs collecting around the bridge’s pilings taunted me every time I rode my bike across the bridge. I’d look down toward the bayou hoping to see a turtle or an alligator floating by, and instead I would see the floating bog, and the odd bits of trash that had been caught up in it, including an old TV.

Jean Lafitte rolled over in his grave at least a dozen times during the past two weeks.

Tiny Catahoula, where many people still speak only French, was selected for the filming of parts of the Cecil B. DeMille production The Buccaneer in 1937.

Microclimate even was too large a word for the fragrant cloud of what had just been and was still being shaken loose from the newly arrived mimosa blossoms by an early evening drizzle, small enough to travel all the way through on a bike in the space of one full breath.

Baroque on the Bayou returns May 22–24, 2026 for its second annual celebration of Baroque music in the heart of South Louisiana. Presented by the Atchafalaya Orchestra under the direction of Music & Artistic Director André Courville, the festival brings together world-class artists from France and Louisiana for three concerts in culturally significant venues across St. Martin Parish.

I’ve been biking for exercise instead of my usual kayaking, and it’s been interesting to notice the difference in the plants I come across, and how they change from day to day.

Whenever I see poo with seeds in it I think of Henry David Thoreau.

The Louisiana Bayou Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to removing litter and debris from Louisiana’s bayous and their watersheds, has been tending to the health of our parish at water level for a little over a year now.

Turning to our own southern Louisiana landscape, we find ourselves now in the middle of what we might call our live oak fall. Do you know that live oaks lose their leaves every year? We call them evergreens, and it’s true, they are always green, but they lose their leaves every year just like any other oak. They just wait until spring to do it.

Desiree S. Evans wanted to be Lois Lane when she was a young girl growing up in St. Martinville, and in a way, that’s exactly who she has become—curious, fearless and drawn to stories that matter, guided by the belief that words themselves are an exquisite form of power.

Many of you will remember your mother or grandmother whipping up this cake from scratch with no cookbook in sight, just fresh pecans, sugar, butter, and milk coming together in exactly the right proportions. For those who appreciate a little more structure when it comes to baking, I’ve translated that intuitive kitchen magic into an easy, step-by-step recipe.

Breaux Bridge native Yvette Landry has added a new title to her growing bookshelf with The Wild Girl of Catahoula, a work of juvenile fiction inspired by reported sightings of a feral girl in late-19th-century Louisiana.

A free concert of Louisiana roots music will take place at the historic Duchamp Opera House in downtown St. Martinville this Sunday, November 23rd from 2:30 to 3:00.

Gammy wanted her coffin made before she died.

The crawfish processing industry got its start on the peaceful banks of Catahoula Lake back in 1949 when Abby Latiolais established the very first commercial cleaning plant near his home just across the Catahoula bridge.

An early variety of sugar cane, Co. 290, was brought from India to Louisiana in the early 20th century. With its striking deep purple stalks, thick cores and rich, flavorful juice, it quickly became a favorite, not just among farmers, but also among families, perfect for making a dark and deeply flavored molasses or splitting open with a pocketknife and chewing fresh.

St. Martin Parish covers a lot of ground, stretching from the same latitude as Baton Rouge at its northernmost point all the way down to practically Morgan City at its southernmost point, across prairies and rolling hills, it’s true there are only a few, across bayous, lagoons and bald cypress swamps . . .

Used to be that every family up and down the bayou kept a few cows or goats, raised chickens for eggs, and tended small vegetable gardens to grow what they needed. Whatever they didn’t have, they bartered for with neighbors. When you drive down the oak-lined lane that leads to Belle Ecorce Farms in St. Martinville, you feel echoes of those simpler days.

Marcelle Bienvenu never intended to pursue a career in food, but after over fifty years as a cookbook author, food historian, food writer and restaurant owner, she’s a testament to the fact that sometimes life is bigger than our intentions.

André Courville’s passion for music has taken him from Cecilia, Louisiana to the most celebrated stages in the world—Carnegie Hall in New York City, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Guangzhou Opera House in China, the Sante Fe Opera—and this May, the renowned bass-baritone will be channeling that wealth of experience into an ambitious music festival right here in St. Martin Parish.