Today is Thursday. I cannot for the life of me remember what we have done all week...perhaps I will have to ask Waz...he with the memory!! but he is snoring on the floor right now. Says he will wake up if I make a cup of tea...so here goes:)
Tea made, Waz still napping..so here goes!
I find that if I work backwards I usually get most things in here. My typing may be worse than ever because I am compensating with finger in the air.
Today we went into New Orleans French Quarter. We caught the shuttle that leaves at 10am from the Pontchartrain Landing RV park and Marina next door. We had to walk for about 10 mins to get there via the road as we found a shortcut which we had anticipated using, was not actually a smart choice..esp. with my finger out of commission.
There were quite a few others on the shuttle, most of whom were going into 'town' for the first time.
The driver was good at giving us directions and warnings about some of the scams being perpetrated currently. This was on top of the warnings that Al and Kaye, in particular, a native NOLA'n, had given us last weekend at the boat show. I have to say we hadnt rushed into town to see the sights as a result. The fact that you need to stay within the 10 square blocks of the French Quarter to be safe is a bit strange, but we are guests here and want to be safe, so we did as was suggested.
Did we at any time feel unsafe? Yes we did..just slightly uncomfortable, we have to admit. People would accost us in the street with offers and suggestions and we kept our heads down, didnt make eye contact or respond other than saying 'no thanks' and moving on.
The old town is old, of course...but then it dates back a loooong way..into the 1600's to be exact.
We also have to bear in mind the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in Aug. 2005. Her signature is everywhere. On the other hand there were plenty of signs of renovation and we were happy to see that new paint has been applies to many of the old buildings and they are colorful and decorative.
We got off the shuttle on Toulouse Street
...and turned left onto Decatur
which is just one block back from the waterfront...you can see the Steamer ticket office in the background of this pic.
Here they use Asses to pull the many carts, instead of Horses. We weretold $18 each for a French Quarter tour
As I said,lots of work being done on some of these old buildings...
It was surprising to see many for sale signs in the center of the French Quarter for apartments. This one is lovely:)
Of course New Orleans and Voodoo go hand in hand. Add to that Halloween, which is coming up at the end of the month!
Lots of cart rides available...they werent getting a lot of custom today. It was overcast and threatened rain, but it held off, fortunately. It got very humid though, later in the day.
It is now very cool, which is nice, but almost makes us want to sweater up!
The lovely cathedral in the middle of the Fr. 1/4.
And here we are at the Cafe Du Monde. The original French Market Coffee house. We went for th cafe au lait and the Beignets. We have had better...but the place was busting at the seams.
Im not realllly enjoying this:)
I wished I had been able to go inside and take a pic of this lovely old bike...
Gorgeous Wrought Iron
Typical of many shops selling Mardi Gras and typical voodoo stuffs
yes, you can buy the mixes for anything, in this countrym, and these mixes for Cafe du Monde are also on the supermarket shelves!!!
Lots of these statues in the french 1/4.
I guess we sometimes have romantic notions of living in places like this? Yes, it IS very French/european.
Not just ANY cowboy boots
Aligator!
The fleur de lis is everywhere here...very french!
The wrought Iron is stunning
but dont bother trying to phone home!
I fell in love with this facade on Canal Street.
This young man was taking five...a very peaceful moment.
The owner of this French Antiques store graciously allowed me to take photos. I wanted to show the beautiful items and in particular the Chandelier..the most expensive of which was $90,000
I love afternoon shadows!
These tiles are on all street corners in the French 1/4
There it is! The famous Bourbon Street. This sign is on Canal Street.
We saw sparkles coming throught the grating in the footpath (sidewalk) and looked down to see all the baubles from mardi Gras amongst the cigarette butts et al.
Lovely light fixtures outside on Royal Street. We found a Chase bank there, otherwise we might only have gone down Bourbon St.
New Orlean Police Dept capitalising on the tourist traffic!
NOPD motors!
A street performer, of which there were so many. at least he was original!
One of the rail trolleys
This Giant Egret was out in the midflats of the Mississippi, fishing. He was very successful too!
...and it wouldnt be NOLA without the paddle steamers! The paddles are actually wooden
..and the whistles!
Another tram
...and there she goes for the 11.30 lunchtime cruise. the menu looked ok, but we didnt think we wanted to spend two hours on her.
How peaceful in the middle of the mayhem.
The folks who just got off this bike had come from North Carolina.
Murals everywhere
Statue of Bienville, the founder of NO, who names New Orleans after the Duc de Orleans, France.Im going to have to finish this in the morning, if I get the opportunity. I can hardly keep my eyes open. It has been along day.
We get a car for the weekend, tomorrow...I have a specialist appointment in the afternoon and before that...a very welcome haircut! yaya!
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