Dr. Chantal Saucier

The 25th edition of the Giant Omelette Celebration was a success this past weekend in Abbeville, LA. There was some rain in the forecast but it stayed at bay long enough for thousands to enjoy good music, good food, and of course, a taste (or two) of the omelette. Below are a few pictures I took yesterday in downtown Abbeville.

This is all the chefs getting together for a photo op before the cooking started.

The preparation of an omelette with 5,025 eggs in it also requires lots of butter, 52 pounds to be exact. It also requires 50 pounds of onions, 75 bell peppers, 4 gallons of onion tops and 2 gallons of parsley among other ingredients. Since the celebration began 25 years ago, they add one egg to the recipe every year, which is why there are now 5025 eggs in the omelette.

The chefs took turn stirring the omelette on the hot open fire.

Once the omelette was done, all the chefs raised their cooking tools (giant wooden rakes and boat paddles) and started serving to the crowd.

I took this picture to show a little bit of downtown Abbeville. I love the architecture and what has been done in the past few years to spruce up the town.

That's it folks! See you next year, November 6th & 7th, 2010, for another Giant Omelette Celebration!

The Giant Omelette Celebration is going on this weekend in Abbeville. If you've never seen a giant omelette, just imagine a 12-foot skillet with 5,025 eggs in it. Quite impressive, to say the least.

There was a kick-off party Thursday night in the park downtown Abbeville and I was invited to play the T-Fer (triangle) with a couple of my friends (traditional Cajun music). That was a lot of fun!

Here's the schedule for the remainder of the weekend. For more information, visit the Giant Omelette Celebration website.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9TH, 2009

9:00 - 5:00 Antique Implement viewing

10:00 - 4:00 Historic Tour of Homes

9:00 - 5:00 Arts & Crafts Show

10:00 - 5:00 Kids World

2:00 - 5:00 - Al Berard Family Ban

5:00 p.m. Festival Closes - See you tomorrow

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8th, 2009

9:00 Giant Omelette/Faith House & Kaplan Food Bank Poker Run Sponsored by The Survivors Riding Club

9:00 Official Mass St. Mary Magdalen NOTE: Due to the work being done in St. Mary Magdalen Church the 2009 Omelette Mass will be held at the Vermilion Catholic High School Auditorium.

9:00 - 5:00 Antique Car/Implement viewing

9:00 - 5:00 Arts & Crafts Show

10:00 - 1:00 Feufollet

1:30 Procession of Chefs and Eggs

1:45 Tabasco Girls Dance Team

2:00 - 4:00 Fa Tras Local Cajun Ban

2:00 Omelette Preparation & Serving

5:00 Festival Closes See you next year!!

Home sales were slightly on the rise in Lafayette Parish and Acadiana for October this year. In Lafayette Parish, 203 homes sold in October and 284 in all of Acadiana. In September, 193 homes sold in Lafayette Parish and 276 in Acadiana.

When compared to last year, sales in October were higher this year. 270 homes sold in Acadiana last year compared to 284 this year and 167 homes sold in Lafayette Parish in October of 2008 compared to 203 this year.

There are less sales pending this month. In Lafayette Parish, 308 homes are showing as pending and 441 in Acadiana. In September, there were 346 sales pending in Lafayette Parish and 490 in Acadiana.

Overall, home sales this year are lower than last year in Lafayette Parish and Acadiana. Between January and October of 2008, 3011 homes had sold in Acadiana and 1972 in Lafayette. This year, 2706 homes have sold from January to October in Acadiana and 1914 in Lafayette Parish.

There are currently 1185 homes for sale in Lafayette Parish and 2160 in all of Acadiana. To search for homes, please visit my web site: LaRealEstateDoctor.com.

Lafayette was just voted #2 among mid-size metro areas for best places to launch a business. You can read the article from CNN Money here. Baton Rouge, located about one hour east of Lafayette came in at number 9.

Here is the list of the top ten cities in the same category:

1. Huntsville, AL
2. Lafayette, LA
3. Omaha, NE
4. Clarksville, TN
5. Peoria, IL
6. Lexington, KY
7. Killeen, TX
8. Des Moines, IA
9. Baton Rouge, LA
10. Lincoln, NE

Lafayette has a population a little over 250,000 and it is located along the I-10 corridor between Baton Rouge and Lake Charles.

Earlier this year, Lafayette also made the list for the best places to find a job among mid-size cities. In May, the unemployment rate was 3.9%.

If you are considering relocating to Lafayette, call or email me and I'll be delighted to help you with all your relocation needs.

Come join us tonight for our 19th annual Gumbo Cook-Off in the Parc International downtown Lafayette from 4pm to 7pm.

This annual event is a fundraiser for Rebuilding Together, Faith House and Community Foundation of Acadiana. This year's theme is "Fright in the Parc" and as always, it promises to be a fun event with great food.

If you don't have plans for dinner tonight, make plans to attend. For only $5, you can taste all the gumbo you can eat and then vote for the best one.

This is a great event where real estate brokers and their affiliates compete to get the public's vote on their gumbo. Tents are decorated and people are costumed. There will also be a costume contest for children, so dress em' up!

Entertainment this year will be provided by Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie. You will not want to leave your dancing shoes at home!

Great food, great music, great fun! See you there!