Mobile, AL, 29okt 2017
In English below
Vi hade date med våra vänner Susan och John på Eagle Heart i New Orleans. De hade sin båt i marinan i närheten så de bjöd oss av sova över hos dem! Perfekt! Tillsammans gjorde vi New Orleans By Night (barnförbjudet:), the Evergreen Plantation och the French Market.
Vår guide, Desiré, på det 2,5 timmar långa besöket på plantagen var helt enkelt magnifik i hennes sätt att bildiggöra och förklara livet på plantager i allmänhet men, i detalj, livet på Evergreen i synnerhet! Plantagens historia hur de levde på den tiden när slaveriet var ett faktum. Fast Desirés berättade att de franska kreolerna i Louisiana var lite annorlunda mot övriga slavstater i söderna med det franska inflytandet blev det kanske lite mer blandat, lite mer "humant", lite mer mixat med fria färgade, slavar, fria färgade som var vita (i hyn) och vita.... Eller inte......
Idag ägs plantagen av en mycket rik kvinna som dedicerat sitt liv till att bevara några plantager för eftervärlden. Evergreen plantage är en av dem. Vi tackar!!
Susan, John and Lars hiding in the banana palms...
We had date with our friends Susan and John at Eagle Heart in New Orleans. They had their boat in the marina nearby so they invited us to sleep over at them! Perfect! Together, we did New Orleans By Night, the Evergreen Plantation and the French Market.
Our guide, Desiré, on the 2.5-hour visit to the plantation was simply magnificent in her way of story telling and explaining the life of plantations in general, but in detail, the life of Evergreen in particular! How they lived at the time when slavery was a fact. Desirés told us that the French creoles in Louisiana were a little different to the other slave states in the south with the French influence, perhaps it was a little more mixed, a little more "human". A little more mixed with free slaves of color, slaves and white .... Or maybe not ......
Today, the plantation is owned by a very rich woman who dedicated her life to preserving some plantations for the aftermath. Evergreen plantation is one of them. We thank her!!
Evergreen Plantation, where the owners lived..
Desiré explaining the history... very vividly :)
..and showing us the red "microwave oven" in the house, that was the kitchen. It is model pre historic, with no back cover. Just place food on the shelves inside and turn the back to the furnace... and it will keep the food warm :)
Inside living in stile.
The slaves lived behind the fence, impossible to see from the masters road, the cabins hid in the avenue of Evergreen Oak trees with Spanish Moss... It was so invisible that after the owners went bankrupt in the 1930´s and the bank did not find a new buyer, the slaves lived there for 14 years, minding their own business and farming the land with no rent to pay :)
If you came a bit closer you could see them all. Two families in each cabin.
..each with a fireplace inside. Perhaps not as elegant as the masters house.... They had 100 slaves with different skills and the main crop was cotton.
It all started with the Portuguese in the 16th century and peaked in the 18th, with over 10 miljon slaves captured in Africa and transported mainly to the West Indies. I´ve heard that 40% died on the journey...
