-- Published: Thursday, 12 July 2018 | Print | Disqus
By Larry LaBorde
The lovely Miss Puddy accompanied me to Southern France last month to meet up with our son and his new fiancée. The purpose of our trip was to meet his bride-to-be’s parents in Toulouse. I also wanted to visit the family cemetery in Tartas just south of Bordeaux.
After flying into CDG airport in Paris we rested a couple of days and then took the high-speed train from gare Montparnasse down to Bordeaux where we met up with the children. We spent a few days in Bordeaux and then drove down to the small town of Tartas.
Most of my friends know that I am a 7th generation French colonist. My ancestors came over from Tartas around 1780 when Louisiana was still a French colony long before Jefferson made his real estate deal of the century. The 50 families that came over together all settled in Avoyelles Parish in south central Louisiana and pretty much stayed together for over 160 years. My father spoke French and did not learn English until he started first grade. French traditions were still strong in the area when I was younger. My grandfather was supposed to have a good voice and regularly sang a passionate La Marseillaise in his youth. I was interested in finding where my family came from and exploring the town a bit.
In most of Europe the custom was for the eldest son to inherit all the land. Second sons (and subsequent sons) usually entered the priesthood, the military or set off for distant destinations to try to make their own fortunes. Most of the history of the US is made up of “second sons” and of men on the run for one reason or another. It is sometimes said that people in the United States may not want to know too much about their ancestors that emigrated as sometimes it can be “less than flattering”. I am sure that more than one outlaw is in our family tree on both sides.
We visited the Church where my 4th great grandfather was baptized before he grew up and sailed for Louisiana. We also visited the church cemetery where my 5th and 6th great grandfathers were buried. I have yet to go back further than 9 generations but perhaps one day will do so. At any rate I have established where those records are now kept for future work in the family genealogy department.
After our trip to Tartas we drove to Toulouse through some of the most beautiful countryside that I have seen in France. We stopped overnight in the old City of Rocamadour and had a wonderful dinner. The next day we met up with my son’s fiancee’s parents at their home. They were perfect hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting the new branch of our family tree. Good food and wine were the order of the day! We stayed several days after which I told my son he picked a lovely bride and the good in-laws were an added bonus. After a couple of fun weeks in France we flew home with fond memories of our new “parents-in-law”.
Historical footnote:
Napoleon was desperate for funds for his military in 1803 as he was planning an invasion of England (which never happened). President Thomas Jefferson only wanted to purchase New Orleans but when he was offered the entire French Louisiana colony in North America he quickly jumped at the idea. The sale was for $11 million dollars ($3 million in gold with the balance financed with bonds). The Louisiana territory consisted of 530,000,000 acres of land which worked out to a little over 2 cents per acre. The modern equivalent would be about 57 cents per acre.
Stay out of debt, stay liquid and keep some gold on hand. You never know when you may stumble onto the deal of this century.
Larry LaBorde sells precious metals through Silver Trading Company LLC. Since 2001, Silver Trading Company has offered high volume sales of gold, silver, platinum and palladium to serious investors around the world. It also offers guidance about storage options for metals. Please visit Silver Trading Company’s website at www.SilverTrading.net.
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-- Published: Thursday, 12 July 2018 | E-Mail | Print | Source: GoldSeek.com
