Les meilleurs hôtels à Lake Charles

"Alligator Crossing!" Signs with that warning dot the Creole Nature Trail, a 105-mile driving and walking tour of the surrounding swamps and marshes of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Travelers usually spot a fair number of the antediluvian creatures on the trail, along with a kaleidoscope of waterfowl, nutria, and other Louisiana wildlife. Lake Charles is way down in the southwest corner of the state, just a little ways from the Gulf of Mexico, and sits amid the state's most spectacular attraction: the wildlife refuge areas and protected coastal salt marshes of the deep south. Nearby Holly Beach, "the Cajun Riviera," attracts the locals with its more than 25 miles of natural, sandy beaches. Annual local events in Lake Charles include Contraband Days, "the world's funnest festival," a 12-day celebration of the life and adventures of French pirate Jean Lafitte who is said to have buried his ill-gotten treasures somewhere along the snaking Louisiana waterways. The Cajun French Music Association also throws an annual music and food fest here. Food, fun and music: the French joie de vivre is alive in this Louisiana town.