Bayou Lafourche begins at the Mississippi in Donaldsonville and runs roughly 170 kilometres southwest through the heart of Cajun Louisiana to the Gulf. Driving the bayou road (LA-1 or the parallel LA-308) through Napoleonville, Labadieville, and Thibodaux gives a more honest picture of Cajun country than the plantation circuit — these are working towns where the Cajun culture is lived rather than performed. Thibodaux has the E.D. White Historic Site and a decent historic district of its own. The bayou landscape — oak-lined roads, cypress swamps, fishing boats tied up behind houses — is genuinely beautiful. Allow a half-day and stop whenever something looks interesting.