On our way to Broussard originally, we had written to another couchsurfing host in Lafayette, Ernesto, hoping to stay with him after Broussard (thinking that we would only be in Broussard a night). We never heard from Ernesto, but it didn’t matter since we had gone to the airfield and Abbeville. About 2 weeks after we had written to Ernesto, he wrote us back and explained that he’d been out of town. We did want to meet him, as he was from Peru, and we had hoped to get his ideas and comments on traveling through Peru. Ernesto was very interested in the ultralight flying so we invited him to the airfield one Saturday. He got to go up with Fred, and loved it.
About a week later, Ernesto agreed to pick us up and take us to breakfast on Saturday morning at Café des Amis in Breaux Bridge for zydeco dancing. Wow, did we have a good time! Ernesto’s friend Melissa, born and raised in Breaux Bridge, and a former hostess at Café des Amis, joined us for breakfast. At 8:30 in the morning, the line was out the door and the wait was nearly an hour. There’s a cover charge that is refunded if you have breakfast, but many folks are there only for the dancing. The band plays from about 8:30 to noon, and they really pound out the music. The place is absolutely jammed with dancers, those eating breakfast, and a whole crowd hangs out next to the bar, where you can order anything from coffee and soft drinks to Bloody Marys or mimosas, to fruit juice or straight scotch. Now mind you, this is 8:30 in the morning, and the place is rockin’ like a hugely popular nightclub.
The two main types of music here in southern Louisiana are Cajun and Zydeco. Both Cajun and Zydeco are a blend of European, African, and American Indian influences. Cajun bands tend to be white, and include fiddles, guitar and accordion. It’s heavily influenced by blues music. Zydeco music is characterized by the use of accordion, frottoir (like a metal washboard, played with thimbles), guitar and drums, and zydeco bands tend to be black. The music of both, particularly (for us) zydeco, is toe-tapping music. It’s virtually impossible to sit still and listen to this music!
So while we sat and ate beignets and drank café lattes, the room was swirling with dancers of all ages and colors, and the music was so loud conversation was nearly impossible. Melissa pointed out one man who has been there nearly every Saturday morning for years. He used to have his outfits made especially for the dancing, and she said they were awesome, somewhat like what Liberace would wear. That day he was conservatively dressed in red pants, a dress/sport shirt with red cars on it, red shoes, and a red hat. He is quite old (at the stage where it looks as though he doesn’t have any teeth), but impeccably dressed, and stood and “danced” to the music for every single song, always with a new partner. He may have swayed in place to the music more than actually danced, but by golly, he was out there the whole time! Many of the dancers are there every week, and dance so regularly that they are like professional zydeco dancers. One woman told me later that she met her now-husband 10 years ago zydeco dancing.
The dance floor is just a chaotic mass of dancers, and it’s hard to tell who is with whom. Partners change almost every dance. It’s common for the dancers to ask someone, anyone, from the “audience” to dance. I’d been watching one particular guy who had an amazing style – he was really active and used his knees a lot. Much to my horror, he pointed his finger at me, indicating I was to come out and dance with him. I totally chickened out, and refused to dance, much to my personal disgust later. I got Chelsea to get up and take my place, and of course she had a wonderful time! She must have danced nearly every dance after that with several different partners. Melissa wasn’t going to let me get away with that, so she got Ernesto out on the floor, and got me to dance with him. I must admit, it was quite fun, and I want to learn zydeco dancing. I figure it’s great practice for all the dancing we’ll do south of the border.
Meanwhile the food was just incredible. Ernesto and Melissa treated us to breakfast, and urged us to try things we hadn’t had. We had scrambled eggs with crawfish au gratin, cheese grits, and scrambled eggs with crawfish etouffee, along with our beignets and refills of Community Coffee. For those who are interested in something else, there are Eggs des Amis – biscuits with a grilled boudin patty, Swiss cheese and eggs; Eggs Begnaud – grilled biscuits with crawfish etouffee or crawfish au gratin and 2 eggs. Andouille grits are on the menu too.
At Café des Amis, famous people such as Dan Ackroyd and Bobby Rayne are allowed to sign the walls. Originally a funeral home, the crank that was used to move the caskets upstairs is still visible. The floor thumps with music, the dancers are dripping sweat by 9 a.m., and by 9:45 the ceiling fans and air conditioning are cranked up to high. Local artists display their artwork on the walls in an art gallery approach, and every Wednesday there’s a complete change of all artwork. While we were there, one happy family walked out with a large beautiful metal art piece.
The band this day was Corey “Lil Pop” Ledet, and I don’t think they took a break in the 3 hours that we were there. Zydeco music kept everyone’s toes twitching, and they played a number of old 60s songs put to a zydeco rhythm. One of my favorite songs was “I’m a Boudin Man”, and I loved their version of “Hunk a Hunk of Burning Love”.
The Saturday morning zydeco dancing at Café des Amis truly epitomizes the southern Louisiana motto “Laizzes les bons temps rouler” or “Let the good times roll”.