French Quarter

Wednesday, May 18 - This moring we took the campground shuttle down to the French Quarter for the Katrina/City Tour.  We had a few minutes before we boarded the tour bus, so we walked down to the river, which was just right there.

They were also getting ready for the Riverboat Cruise, so the steamship Nathez was right there in port.

A lady played the calliope as they boarded the boat, so we could hear her playing from our tour bus.  As we toured the city, we saw lots of historical statutes.  New Orleans is a very old city, with lots of history, especialy during the civil war.

The bus driver drove us through the Lower Ninth Ward, which sustained most of the damage from the flooding after Hurricane Katrina.  Remember, the flooding was due to the levee failure at Lake Pontchatrain, not the hurricane itself.  We saw many homes in various states of disrepair, a lot of vacant lots -- the driver said this used to be a densely populated neighborhood so all the vacant lots used to have buildings on them -- some construction going on.  On some of the houses still standing we could see the water line left from the flooding, and the markings put on by the rescue people checking that the houses was vacant.  The Brad Pitt Organization as well as Habitat for Humanity have been very active in this area, and our bus driver said that the Brad Pitt homes are very unusual looking because they are built to be efficient, wired for generators, built on stilts to be safer.  They look different than the other homes being constructed there.

Our driver was pretty good, he narrated the entire time we were on the bus, so we learned a lot of New Orleans' history - historic and more recent.  We stopped at one of the above-ground cemeteries that are so popular here. 

Then he took us through the City Park and to Lake Pontchartrain.  The community beside the lake is very nice, with huge homes.  He called this a "tear down" community, because often people buy these big old houses for hundreds of thousands of dollars, then tear them down and built a new, huge house on the lot. 

The bridge over this lake is the longest bridge in the world that is continuously over water.  The lake is 40 miles long and 25 miles wide.

Back on tour, he drove us past some of the grand, old mansions.  Some of these have been divided into apartments, but many are still single-family homes.

They still have an active street car line here, and the streetcars traveled this street, which took us past Tulane and Loyola Universities.  There were also lots of churches in this street, on the streetcar line.

This is also part of the Mardi Gras parade route, and there were lots of beads hanging from the stately trees lining the street, and even on the overhead power lines.

Another old tradition still alive in New Orleans is the mule-drawn carriages that go up and down the street moving tourists from one location to another.

Some of these animals are just beautiful, and the carriages are decorated with flowers (so are some of the mules).  We didn't ride on any of these, but we saw lots of them.  We had lunch right on S. Peter Street, which is the one right along the river.  A jazz band entertained us while we ate.

Then we walked through some of the shops in the French Quarter, including a flea market area.  Joe found some hot sauce named after him.

I found a solution to my bad-hair days.

I didn't buy this mask, but I did buy a similar one, not quite as impressive as this one (if I had time to go back for this one, I would have).

These streets here have solid buildings, two to three stories usually.  Most of them have balconies on them, and may of them are decorated with flower boxes, very colorful.

We then walked up the famous Bourbon Street, but it was only 3:00 p.m., so there wasn't too much activity; we did pass a few strange-looking people, and there was bar after bar, but they weren't jumping yet.  I'm sure by nightfall there was a lot more going on down here.

We decided to stop for a drink, back on the corner of S. Peter Street and Toulouse, and I talked Joe into going over to Harrah's Casino so we took the later shuttle back.  The World Series of Poker was going on at the casino, but we didn't try to go to whatever floor that was taking place on.  We don't know if was open to the public or not. We are enjoying "carnival margaritas" here.

We had about a 3-4 block walk, and we passed by Bubba Gump's restaurant.

So we spent a couple hours donating our funds to the casino, then we walked back and had the famous "Cafe Du Monde beignets" (french donuts), which were delicious.  We didn't even know at the time that this was a "have to" if you visit New Orleans, but we found out later this is a landmark, so we were glad we indulged.

So we caught our shuttle back to the RV, and were glad to rest our feet.  This was probably more walking than Joe needed on his newly-repaired foot.  But it was a good day, and we enjoyed seeing what we did of New Orleans.