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It was a simple stroll through downtown Lafayette in 2020 that convinced Bryan Dupree and his husband James Colvin to open an independent bookstore. The couple had walked by a group of French tourists who were looking for a place to buy a postcard and have some wine, with service in French.
At the time, Lafayette didn’t have a local bookstore—something that Dupree, who has a degree in French literature, thought was badly needed. Service in French, although available at a few establishments, also wasn’t always easy to find. So, Dupree and Colvin, along with two friends, opened Beausoleil Books in October 2020 to meet both of those needs.
“The idea was that French people from abroad could come and learn about French culture in Louisiana and Louisiana French speakers could learn about the breadth of French that is abroad,” Dupree said. “So, my idea was that we would have a French section that would showcase Louisiana French authors, which it does. And then also showcase new and rising talent in francophone countries around the world, which we do.”
Dupree curates this French book section, called “Le coin francophone,” which promotes this sort of cultural exchange through literature that he said opens up the world to the various groups of francophones—local and from abroad—in Lafayette.
At Beausoleil, there are often a myriad of French events like poetry readings and book presentations by French-speaking authors. Beausoleil is usually staffed by at least one francophone who either works in the bookstore or the adjacent Whisper Room, which is a bar.
“I think it's important to provide an opportunity where people can use their French practically,” Dupree said. “That opportunity was given to me to speak in French and be paid to do it when I was a tour guide at Laura Plantation. And I would like to give that opportunity to more people, too.”
Building a Diversified Economy
In 2021, the West Baton Rouge Museum in Port Allen rebranded with a specific focus on highlighting French and Louisiana Creole in partnership with Télé-Louisiane. Angelique Bergeron, the director at the museum who speaks French and Louisiana Creole, said they have trilingual and bilingual signs across the museum grounds. Museum guides, like André St. Romain, offer tours in French. The museum also hosts French-speaking events, such as the Café Français that takes place once a month.
“We just wanted to create a space where people could come together, speak the languages, celebrate the languages and culture, and also come and find work or do something in the languages,” Bergeron said.
Bergeron noted that businesses that offer services in French work toward two goals: to cater to the large numbers of French-speaking tourists that come to Louisiana each year, and also to offer opportunities to local francophones. “My kid is in French immersion in first grade,” she said. “We’ve got a ways to go, but hopefully there'll be jobs for her in French when she gets older.”
Bergeron pointed to efforts such as French immersion programs that are creating a pool of francophones that will eventually be looking for work. Bergeron said the upside to hiring Louisiana francophones is that, at the museum, her staff is also capable of catering to the influx of tourists from France and Canada.
According to the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in 2021 thetravel and tourism industry was Louisiana’s fifth highest employer, and France and Canada often top the list of travelers. Due to Louisiana tourism advertisements that target francophone visitors, French-speaking tourists are often expecting services in French, yet they are often disappointed at the lack of them, according to Lawson Ota who owns Tours by Marguerite in New Orleans.
Lawson, who offers tours in English, French and Creole, is an advocate for investing more in institutionalizing Louisiana’s heritage languages—hiring francophones or creolophones at restaurants, hotels, hospitals and more. For him, this will only attract more tourists to grow an already powerful economic force. But, he said, getting there will require hard work.
“If we want this industry to grow and for Louisiana French and Louisiana Creole to have futures, the government must understand that it’s not only an opportunity to make money,” he said. “It’s necessary to work and to make investments.”
There are some initiatives that invest in the Louisiana francophone business sector. Télé-Louisiane created full-time jobs for francophones in media and journalism through support from the state legislature and governor. Additionally, there are a handful of workforce training initiatives such as a newly created scholarship offered by the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) for a Louisianan to attend a business immersion program at HEC Montreal, a business school within the University of Montreal.
CODOFIL also offers scholarships for young professionals to attend the Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia, Canada. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette isplanning to offer a certificate in business French in coordination with the Paris Île-de-France Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
There is no active, wider effort within the state government to enhance Louisiana’s francophone business sector. This is despite the laws passed in the early 2010’s, such as Act 679 and Act 106, that specifically tasked state agencies with enhancing Louisiana’s business and tourism sector in regards to French.
For Ken Douet, who co-owns Maison Stéphanie bed and breakfast between Arnaudville and Cecilia with his husband Richard Howes, strengthening Louisiana’s multilingual economy starts with children enrolled in immersion. Douet said he and Howe work to assist Teche Elementary in Cecilia with various projects. At the end of the year, Maison Stéphanie will host an event with Brandon and Aurore Ballengée, a nearby francophone family who founded the annual Atelier de la Nature. These sorts of connections are crucial, Douet said, to display to children that French exists outside the classroom.
“I think that for them, it’s only a language,” he said. “It’s still not a part of their culture. By getting out of the classroom and into everyday life, you have the chance to have experiences in the language and with music, food, games. And it’s there that the language becomes a true part of yourself, not just in the classroom.”
Douet pointed out that, in certain communities in Louisiana, there already exist ample businesses who employ francophones or creolophones, but likely don’t advertise it. For instance, in Arnaudville, only a few miles from his business, Douet said there are native French or Creole speakers at practically all of the local establishments—Myran’s Maison de Manger, Russell’s Food Center, Bayou Teche Brewery, NUNU Art and Culture Collective and The Little Big Cup. By making the effort to highlight these employees further and hiring more of them, Douet said the community can continue to nurture Louisiana’s heritage languages.
“You start to talk with people and you realize that there are still a lot of people who speak French,” he said. “But if you don’t make the effort, you don’t know who speaks French.”