Monday of this week was the 168th anniversary of the death of Etienne Vidrine, dit Lapaise (the second of the two sons of Jean Baptiste Lapaise de Védrines and Elisabeth de Moncharvaux) who died on February 20, 1849, apparently at his home at the Quartier dit Baton Rouge (the name of

On a pilgrimage to Rome during the last two weeks, we visited the Church of San Luigi dei Francese (St. Louis of the French) dedicated to St. Louis IX, King of France. In the church are several famous paintings by the artist Caravaggio. Over the altar of St. Louis in

Today is the 128th anniversary of the death of Fr. Joseph Juhel. Like all Priests who served the Vidrine Family, especially in Opelousas and Ville Platte, we remember him and his life with gratitude. The name of Fr. Joseph Marie Juhel does not appear on the list of Pastors who

This week, another giant of Acadiana’s Cajun French Music tradition was buried. I was surprised to learn that like other Cajun Music greats, Leo Soileau and Mayeus LaFleur, he descends from the Noel Soileau family like them, and has a close connection to one branch of the Vidrine Family. Merlin’s

Today – January 15 – is the 229th anniversary of the death of Jean Baptiste Lapaise de Védrines, the father of the Vidrine family in LA. It’s because of his courage as a French Marine and the first from the Védrines family to leave France and to come to the

This is an interesting website. It looks like it collects public information and produces statistics. These are the Vidrine name’s stats. It’s interesting that it shows an “American” name, that is, that it’s prevalent in the US. Of course, Jean Baptiste Lapaise de Védrines came to LA from France before