Eugenie Boisfontaine

The Discovery Channel has a new show starting on Jan 5th called "Killing Fields". The show tries to solve murders that happened many years ago and one of the murders the detectives on the show is investigating is of a girl named Eugenie Boisfontaine. She was murdered and left in a ditch near the lakes of LSU's campus in Baton Rouge, LA.

That name is so unusual that I have been repeating it around the house since I heard the preview for the show on TV. The investigator on the preview pronounces it 'U-ja-nay Bwah-fon-taine'. Unusual, right? Or....maybe typical for Louisiana.

Laurie says: Eugenie Boisfontaine
Cliff says: What?

Laurie says: Eugenie Boisfontaine
Whitney says: Eugenie Boisfontaine

Laurie texted Whitney: Eugenie Boisfontaine
Whitney texted the next day: Eugenie Boisfontaine

Laurie says: Eugenie Boisfontaine
Cliff stares with a blank look on his face....you can hear crickets chirping.

And so it goes.

Well.......

I did something Saturday morning that I've never done before. I went duck hunting with Cliff in the Hell Hole Swamps, deep in the Francis Marion National Forest.

Here's how it went.....We left the beach house at 3:30 a.m. The drive would take us 1.5 hours to get to this swamp. It was total darkness, not many cars out at the time of the morning. Back country roads half of the way. Sleep was creeping up on me and I began to doze. In that half sleep state I heard Cliff yell, "Whoa"! And in that split second I felt the thud and felt the jarring as the tires ran over something. It scared me so bad that I jerked awake and hit my fingernail on something and nearly broke it off.

I don't know why, but Eugenie Boisfontaine came to mind.

Laurie said: OMG, Did we run over someone?

Cliff said: We hit a deer.

Cliff stopped to look for damage and saw that it broke one of the fog lights on his Jeep and bent his Ironman license plate on the front bumper.

Arriving at the swamp, it was total darkness and everything was covered with water. It was slightly creepy. Cliff has been wanting me to experience his world in the swamps for some time and I thought why not. It's cold out, so I wouldn't have to worry about snakes. He made two small boats a couple of years ago that run with an electric motor. You can't hear a thing when you run them and they would be our ride in the swamp. So, there we were in total darkness. It was eerily quiet. I was bundled up with a cap on and a hoodie over that with a scarf wrapped around my neck. It's one of those times that you feel like you can't turn your head to see what's around you.....you can only see straight ahead. So, you keep yours eyes looking ahead, slowly making your way through the swamp, dodging trees and fallen limbs and logs....until you hear something splash or a bird screech and then you flip around so fast that you nearly fall out the boat.

No use for make-up in the swamps, y'all! Just trying to stay warm.

Just when we arrived at THE spot, deep in the swamp, surrounded by trees and water and darkness, my mind said.....Eugenie Boisfontaine. 

Gah! 

I had to work through some things for that one!

But then, daylight came and my nerves settled. Cliff slipped around the swamp looking and waiting for the ducks to fly. I stayed far enough behind that I wouldn't spook them. As a matter of fact, I was nearly dozing again, when Cliff aimed his gun and shot for the first time. I jerked awake so fast that I, again, thought that I might fall out the boat. HaHa!

We saw this owl, just before daybreak. I had to use my flash, but he didn't seem to mind.

As it turned out, I enjoyed being out there in the middle of nowhere, no one around but us and the wildlife as daylight broke and the wildlife started to go about their day. It was very peaceful and not at all unnerving, as I first thought. And the more I looked, the more I saw and the more I liked. When I could, I pulled out my camera and took a few shots. You can see them below.

Did you know that it was beautiful in the swamp? Me, either!

There was beauty everywhere....such as this lichen...

...And ferns growing on trees.

Cliff called these Snake Berries.

Here I come, easing back to the Jeep.

And here, Cliff is loading up the boats to leave. 

I think the moral of this story is that nothing is ever as it seems. I was always afraid of the swamps, mostly because of snakes. But there is some deep seated beauty in there....among the water and the trees. I can see now why Cliff loves it so much.

And as for Eugenie.....I certainly hope the investigators solve her mystery. I'm pretty sure she's not in the Hell Hole Swamp.

Eugenie Boisfontaine, God rest your soul.

Laurie