DOWN SOUTH
Gallery Seven
It’s been another great week on the road while Betsy and
I took the tour through the States of Mississippi and Louisiana in early
2005. As we’ve read some place, the Americans purchased Louisiana from
the French in 1803 for about 15 million Dollars. It’s a real bargain if
you take into consideration that they got several more States with this
deal for free. I think, having been there, it’s definitely worth the money
they paid for it.
However we had a great time on the road, sleeping either
in campgrounds or motels. Betsy had been to these places before but it’s
been the first time for me to explore this part of the United States and
learn more about its cultural heritage. But this is only one thing what
you do and experience as you go along.
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 or as you learned in
school (as an American), during the Civil War Vicksburg was the site of the
Battle of Vicksburg or the Siege of Vicksburg. It was an important battle
where the Union defeated the Confederacy and gained control of the
Mississippi River. Standing at the banks and looking over the
Mississippi river with both bridges that were built, one still gets the
feeling that this is where the Eastern and Western United States meet. The
bridges look like gates from one part to the other, holding together what
nowadays belongs together. I remember the first time I crossed the Mississippi
River at Vicksburg there was no nice, wide, new bridge, only
the narrow old bridge. It was an exciting ride and it began my fascination
with this river. I’m glad they kept the old bridge next to the new one.
They both hold special memories for me and I find the contrast in seeing
them beside each other to be a fascinating sight.</p>'))
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 before
they exiled in 1755 for refusing to swear allegiance to the British crown. It
took them decades to find them a new place to live and settle down. As
historians teach it’s been around 1765 to 1785 until some groups of those
Acadians settled in Louisiana, which was then under Spanish rule. This was my
first time to visit the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette also. I found
it to be both beautiful and interesting.</p>'))
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 to the
left and Presbytére (homing a Mardi Gras Museum) to the right, was part of
the Place d Arms. This was essentially the main governing complex for the
newly laid-out city in the late 1700s. Seeing all the carriages lined up in
front of Jackson Square, waiting for someone to hire them, is such a typical
New Orleans scene.</p>'))
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