Joie De Vivre

.Having lived in many places while growing up and as an adult, I can say without hesitation, no other place has the zest for living life to its fullest as does Louisiana. It is called Joie De Vivre.

On the outside looking in, people must wonder what makes these people proud. Yes, our politics would make a third world banana republic blush with envy. Its true 30 years ago in the race for governor we had Edwin Edwards a self-proclaimed crook or David Duke a Grand Wizard of the KKK. We chose the crook. The reasoning was simple, he was an honest crook.

In the 1992 Presidential election, Bill Clinton was campaigning on how much he had done for Arkansas. All I could think about when hearing this was, damn, if not for Arkansas, Louisiana would be last in every matrix used to determine how well a state was doing.

We have endured pandemics and the wrath of Mother Nature in the form of catastrophic hurricanes. There are few major corporations based here, yet we have our Tigers, Saints, Pelicans and other teams we cheer on. We have the Human Juke Box from Southern University, The Marching 100 from St.Aug  and many others we like to hear. We have Cajun and Creole, Zydeco and Jazz. But more than anything else we do not just enjoy life, we celebrate it.

From being “Tiger Bait” as an opposing team’s fan at a LSU game tailgate or a visitor for Jazz Fest or one of the many other festivals we open our arms and hearts to share with you our food, music and culture. To top it off, we throw the biggest free party in world. It is called Mardi Gras. Can you say, “throw me something mister”?

Weather sitting on the porch at the Columns Hotel watching the streetcar pass by under the stately oaks sipping a cocktail, dancing to the music, or tasting fantastic food, you realize life doesn’t get much better. You are living life to the fullest, you have found joie- de-vivre.