Day 40, April 14: St. Francisville, LA

21 of 21 miles—Rest Day

St. Francisville is a lovely place to spend a rest day with many nicely restored homes in its historic district and several antebellum homes open to the public. I stayed in a small B&B in town with a few other riders, while most of the group were in cottages at the Butler-Greenwood Plantation, still in the same family after more than 200 years.

Most of us avoid use of our bikes on the rest day. Today it was a necessity to do so as it was the only transportation available. The miles today will help to compensate for the high wind days when I missed a few.

The Grace Episcopal Church dates from 1827. It was shelled during the Civil War and restored in the 1880’s.


The Oakley Plantation was established in 1806 by the Pirrie family when the area was part of Spanish West Florida. In 1821 they hired J.J. Audubon to come to Oakley to tutor their daughter. Although he stayed at Oakley less than four months, he painted 32 of his Birds of America there, many of which hang in the museum and main house.

Bathtub

Gus, quite the handsome fellow

The entrance to this private home is stately.

Butler-Greenwood Plantation