Photo by James Fox-Smith
Norman Marmillion of Laura Plantation
Norman Marmillion’s guided tour sheds light on the beauty and the barbarism of early Louisiana’s plantation economy.
This is, in our estimation, one in a list of thirty marvelous places, flavors, events, and experiences that anyone who lives in—or loves—our part of the world should experience at least once in his or her lifetime.
Norman Marmillion is a determined man. He is a fourteenth generation Louisianan descended from the Creoles who built an enduring sugar fortune and a handsome plantation on the west bank of the Mississippi River near Vacherie. Norman and his wife, Sand, have devoted their lives to researching, preserving, and interpreting the history of the Creole experience in Louisiana. Based on five thousand pages of documents related to the plantation discovered in the Archives Nationales in Paris, the provenance of Laura’s history tour is indisputable. But it’s Marmillion’s delivery that captivates, shedding light on the beauty and the barbarism of early Louisiana’s plantation economy with authority, tenderness, and unapologetic attention to detail. One leaves Laura with a better understanding of the relationship between the races in Louisiana, a broader appreciation for the role of conservation in the transmission of culture, and a heightened awareness for why things are the way they are. 2247 Louisiana Highway 18, Vacherie, La. (225) 265-7690 or lauraplantation.com.
