Vacherie, New Orleans

The Plantation is called Oak Alley because of these trees. There were 28 live oak trees planted in the 1700s from a early settler from his house to the Mississippi River.

They line the gardens and is a very romantic walk. Imagine yourself back in time. I can!!

Touring this beautiful Greek Revival Antebellum Mansion was something I had wanted to do for a long time. But the sad truth is I never got to do it, even though we had thought we could fit it in on this recent trip to New Orleans. Located within an hour's drive from New Orleans, "Oak Alley Plantation" has been called the "Grande Dame of the Great River Road" and has to be one of the greatest surviving homes of the "Old South." The interior design & furnishings of the house have been authentically restored. The mansion together with the magnificent canopy of 28 live oaks on the grounds make Oak Alley ( IMHO) almost too beautiful for words. The home and plantation also have an impressive history which is worth discovering on your visit here.

I also thought, but apparently mistakenly, that Oak Alley Plantation was the backdrop for the movie "Gone With the Wind." I'm still not convinced this plantation didn't play some part in the movie. But neither in its brochure nor on its website was this movie mentioned, although several films have been shot here either in full or partially.

Many companies offer tours to Oak Alley either alone or in combination with other plantations. But my preference would be for driving there. There are also Bed & Breakfast cottages available, the lovely Oak Alley Restaurant, Plantation Cafe/Ice Cream Parlor, and an impressive gift shop.

Adults (19 yrs. & over) $18.00 Students (13 - 18) $7.50 Children (6 - 12) $4.50 Our hours are as followed: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Mon. - Fri 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Sat & Sun

Open 7 days a week except Thanksgiving & Christmas.

There are three notable plantations that can be visited in Vacherie. I don't know much about Evergreen Plantation.

Laura is a Creole plantation that has been passed down through the maternal line. The main house burned down a couple of years ago, so the main attraction there appears to be the stories about life (including slave life) of the Louisiana plantations, and the progress of the rebuilding of the house. According to what I have heard, Laura is one plantation that does not gloss over the life of the slaves.

Oak Alley was built in the middle of two long lines of live oak trees leading from the Mississippi. The trees were planted at least 100 years before the plantation was built. This 'alley' of trees is the most spectacular part of the plantation, because the building has been heavily restored inside, and the furnishings are not original.

We visited Oak Alley on an all day tour which also went to the swamps.

this is one of the only still standing creole plantations left in the New Orleans area. It can be found in Vacherie.

what's interesting about this place is that it's history is documented in a diary written by one of the many generations of women who owned the plantation.

the picture taken is a side view of the historical home. note the bright colors which have interesting significance.

since colored paint was more costly, the brighter the hues you had, the wealthier you appeared.

see my travelogue for more pictures of the courtyard and slave cabins.

This is just one of those beautiful places where it's almost impossible to take a bad picture.

Oak Alley has alot of history. It's of course named after the magestic trees that line the drive.

today, it's best known for it's stint as Louis' home in Interview With a Vampire and has appreared in many other movies and tv series along the year.

It's history is rich, the scenery breathtaking and the tours are wonderful and informative.

If your goal, while staying in louisiana is to visit a prime example of an american plantation, or if you just want to be taken away from reality for a couple of hours, don't miss this.

See my travelogue for more photos.

this plantation has the most beautiful grounds! the oaks are magnificent...
the tour guides are very informative, and told us some interesting historical facts about lousiana. the plantation is about an hr from new orleans, and the atmosphere is totally different. whereas new orleans felt like a small city, the plantation area felt very much like southern u.s kind of reminded me of designing women!

i took tours by isabelle, which was great. its a small tour group, and the tour guides fill you in with interesting stories about lousiana during the ride(http://www.toursbyisabelle.com)

This is a great plantation tour to take if you want to see what real Creole culture was like. The tour has been named one of the best by Lonely Planet, and with good reason. They don't just have phony hoop skirts and mint juleps here. You see everything, including the slave quarters, has been well preserved. This is the place where the Brer Rabbit stories first originated by West African Slaves. A very interesting and worthy tour.

Oak Alley is a splendid Greek Revival mansion. The magnificent oaks that form a canopy over the driveway are 300 years old.
Sometime in the early 1700's, an unknown French settler built a small house on the sight of the present mansion. It was he who planted the twenty-eight live oak trees in two evenly spaced rows, reaching from his house to the Mississippi River. What happened to the Frenchman's small home is not known, but in 1837-1839, a wealthy French sugar cane planter, Juckes Telesphore Roman, built the Greek revival style mansion for his bride. Nowhere in the Mississippi Valley is there such a spectacular setting!

A bit off the beaten path, but close enough to town for those with a car (under 2 hours), the imfamous Mississippi plantations are a short hop away from New Orleans. Just grab the car and take a drive through history.

A Plantation House tour was interesting, a step back into Louisiana's History. Especially for city folk like me, it's a good lesson into history. Pick a house with intact slave quarters and not recreated ones. I went to the Evergreen Plantation and was deeply touched by seeing the old house and especially the slave quarters. A good chance to step back into America's Past. I found the guides to be very knowledgeable.