French Connection

To live in southern Louisiana is to be immersed in French culture. As in Hawaii, where the locals sprinkle their everyday vocabulary with Hawaiian words, Louisiana has a strong french connection, and their everyday conversations strongly reflect this. Counties are called parishes. It isn't unusual to hear people refer to the size of their property in arpents instead of acres. Specific laws also reflect Louisiana's French roots. For example, the principle of "forced heirship"—that a child is legally guaranteed a share of his parents' estate—comes from the Napoleonic Code and does not appear on the books in any of the 49 common-law states. Similarly, some laws governing commercial transactions in Louisiana come from the French system, putting them at odds with the parts of the Uniform Commercial Code used by other states.

My french connection, albeit weak, is my middle name, LeRoy (the king), which I can trace back through my mother (maiden name, Mary LeRoy), through three additional generations, Ammon Alexander LeRoy (GF), Daniel Vestor LeRoy (GGF), and Louis Roy (GGGF), who settled in Missouri presumably (though not positively verified) from Quebec, Canada.