Paul, Check this out. Nat Canadian pilot gets a heritage lesson By Raymond Legendre Staff Writer Published: Friday, May 21, 2010 at 10:53 a.m. Last Modified: Friday, May 21, 2010 at 10:54 a.m. HOUMA — The stated focus of Canadian pilot Charles Owens' first trip to south Louisiana was to fly over Gulf waters in search of oil flowing from a rig that exploded and sank last month. Related Links: How to have peace in the storm Government takes back seat to BP on spill response Gov. Bobby Jindal talks oil in Grand Isle Bad news washes ashore No decision made yet on Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo More Information: Special Coverage: Crisis in the Gulf Earlier this month, Owens piloted a de Havilland Dash 8 plane, used to give clean-up crews the location of oil spilling from the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig and its thickness and color. But while Owens' trip centered around work it also afforded him a brief heritage lesson, of sorts. Owens, a resident of New Brunswick, Canada, is half-Acadian and fluent in both English and French. He had never visited south Louisiana, which has this country's largest Acadian population, before this month. “I knew a little bit about it, like Cajun cuisine,” he said of south Louisiana. “That's why I was excited to go down there and experience it.” Owens spoke French with local residents while he and the other three pilots were staying in Houma. He also sampled shrimp, gumbo, crawfish and alligator dishes. “Anything you could think of, we tried it,” he said of food. After scratching the surface earlier this month, Owens said he hoped his return trip this week would grant him more chances to learn about Cajun culture. _________________________________________________________________ The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_3