Enter into a place in the United States that is unlike any other. The Laura Plantation stands in the heart of New Orleans Plantation Country on the banks of the Mississippi River. At its largest size, the plantation was approximately 12,000 acres which included properties amassed over time. In 1804, Duparc, a French naval veteran of the American Revolution acquired the property. Your guided tour is based upon 5,000 pages of documents related to this plantation discovered in the Archives Nationales in Paris. The information for narration comes from real-life accounts of generations of owners, women, slaves and children who called this typical Creole sugarcane farm their home.

You will see the Great House, living quarters, raised basement, galleries and the areas where men and women socialized both together and separately. The exterior tour of the grounds will include the 3 lovely gardens: Jardin Français, the Kitchen Potager & Banana Land Grove. Your visit to the slave cabins built in 1840 bring a new meaning to today's references in some of the popular cinemas that have brought this era to your attention.

Further down the Mississippi River Road you will visit the Oak Alley Plantation which is protected by National Historic Landmarks and is located in Vacherie, LA. It was built between 1837-39 and was contracted by the brother of the twice governor of the state, Andre Roman. It is unusual in its design as it has 28 huge Doric columns that hold the free-standing colonnade at the entrance. This architectural style was common before the civil war and this remaining example of southern antebellum does shine. The reason for the name "Oak Alley' is not apparent at first but you will have time to walk down to the river and you will be guided by 28 giant live oak trees. This is the scene that greeted people long ago as they arrived by boat.