Charenton visits Charenton

By ROGER EMILE STOUFF
Charenton was visited by Charenton-le-Pont this week.
The old, and small, St. Mary Parish community of roughly 2,000 residents garnered its name from Charenton-le-Pont, now a suburb of Paris, France with a population of about 30,000.
Since there are only two “Charentons” known in the world, the deduction is likely true.
But what Christian J. LaFaille does not like is that Louisiana’s Charenton was not named because of a mental asylum in its France counterpart.
The Charenton Psychiatric Hospital is actually located in the neighbouring area of Charenton-Saint-Maurice, which changed its name in 1842 to Saint Maurice, according to Wikipedia.
Some reports claim that in about 1840 the Louisiana village was “given in a French pub as a joke,” LaFaille said. “We don’t like that.”
Lafaille is in search of other origin stories to settle the matter.
Christian LaFaille and wife Arlette Proust were greeted by community members, tourism representative and Chitimacha officials during their stay in St. Mary this week.
They came with the blessings of the mayor of Charenton-le-Pont, and in hopes of building a relationship between the two Charentons.
“We think that our answer is the best one,” LaFaille said. “Mr. Alexander Frere, born in 1770 in Paris, and died in Charenton, Louisiana in 1841…during a particulary mosquito-filled summer evening, Mr. Frere commented that, ‘Anyone who lives in Indian Bend should be committed to the French asylum at Charenton.’”
Indian Bend was the earlier name of that bend in Bayou Teche that was the location of the central village of the Chitimacha Nation.
LaFaille and Proust met and spoke with Dr. Thomas Frere Kramer, who is related to Alexander Frere.
“We want to arrange French people to come here,” he said. “I don’t want to miss the (Chitimacha) pow-wow and the Cajun Festival in Lafayette. We love that.”
The couple has conversed with Cajun-French speaking residents, and found the folks in this area “very nice.” The Cajun French is, he said, more like the rural dialect back home.
LaFaille has visited here before. He came 35 years ago, and again 10 years ago. “People are so nice,” he said.
Proust is a Free Mason, and has met Masons in Morgan City and Franklin. Here in the city, they were given a tour of the historic lodge. In France, there is a lodge exclusively for women, men and for both.
While visiting the Franklin lodge, they purchased a commemorative brick to help with efforts to restore the building.
Charenton-le-Pont’s mayor is eager to visit Charenton, La., and bring other resident with him, LaFaille said.
LaFaille will write about their journey in the newspaper back home and in other publications, as well as help organize future organizations.
When asked how the couple liked the food, LaFaille replied very seriously, “No, no, we don’t like it,” then smiled and said, “We love it!” Proust found it a bit too spicy, though, she did enjoy local cuisine.
LaFaille said pork cracklings were among his favorite local Cajun treats and “addictive.”
They’ll be back, he says, and he looks forward to bringing others from Charenton-le-Pont to experience the local area.