Going home

We sat on the plane to Atlanta for half an hour while they tried to fix some technical issue then guess what? Yes correct - we all had to disembark and the usual chaos ensued - everyone trying to get to the front of the queue to get the info on what's happening. We quickly realised that we were not going to get to Atlanta in time to get our London flight. A phone call to Virgin and we were moved to a later flight the same evening - so all sorted 

And time to get some lunch and a fried bread pudding po'boy

A dessert that I have somehow missed out on for the last two weeks...

Phew!,, a close call the flight got into Atlanta but was waiting for a gate for 50 minutes. - then we had to get our bags a get a shuttle to the other terminal. So a leisurely hour or so wait turned into a mad dash - we got to check in with 4 minutes to spare......

Friday in New Orleans

Our final full day here before we depart tomorrow. We take a drive into the lower 9th area which was worst affected by Katrina 

 There are still a lot of abandoned houses - and empty plots 

But a lot of new houses have been built - a lot of them courtesy of Brad Pitt - he's put in a lot of money into this area and sponsored architects and builders to rejuvenate the area. We spent a bit of time with this chap.

He is called Omar and is a Katrina survivor - he is in the process of writing a book about the people he helped. He said that the US government stopped officially counting the dead after 1800 - the true figure is 4 - 5000. So many people left and didn't return that no proper census has been made. You get the feeling that the whole incident is an embarrassment to the government (there are lot of conspiracy theories of course - the levee foundations being too shallow for one) and they want to suppress everything to do with Katrina.

We took a walk round the Garden district - you have all the nice houses 

This one is yours for $ 9.5M

And this is John Goodman's place 

The cemetery

Everyone's getting ready for Halloween 

Finished up the day at a jazz club......... Niiiiice....

Thursday in New Orleans

We went down to the place they make all the Mardis Gras floats 

These are all made from polystyrene covered with papier mache and then painted 

It's a massive million dollar industry that's been going for over 100 years  - there are no corporate sponsors but each "Krewe" fundraises all year and they have to have a minimum of 14 floats - each float can cost up to $80000 new and they rent the figures and sculptures from this place. 

Later on we took a paddle boat trip on the Mississippi 

It was an interesting history lesson - all about the Louisiana Purchase (most of the central bit of America plus a bit of Canada was bought from the French for $15M - about 3 cents an acre - the greatest land deal in history) and the Battle of New Orleans

The Brits v US ( they won by a mile) - both these events were game changers in world politics and economics - read up on these, it's interesting.

We finished off the day with another gig - this time Jackson Browne - at a lovely re furbished ex 1920's movie house

We're on the final couple of days now - a few more things to visit here before we leave.

Wednesday in New Orleans

Got down into the city early and jumped on the bus tour round the city. Best way to get orientated 

Tallest building - these things always look good with a piercing blue sky up there. Temp is around 85f today by the way.

This is the Superdome 

This is where people took refuge after Katrina - the tour guide didn't mention this event hardly at all. Not sure why - maybe they are a little bit embarrassed about how the response was to this - I'll see if I can throw some more light on that.

This is a memorial to Katrina 

New Orleans trams

We took a walking tour - most of the buildings are slowly sinking - there is no bedrock here - just silt from the Mississippi - you have to go down 100ft to hit rock.

Picking the kids up from school

The guide told us that Brad and Anglena own a property here and opposite Matthew McConaughey has a house - I have a picture in my head of Matthew entertaining some young ladies while Brad and Angelina are trying to get the 7 (or is it 8 kids) to bed ............ nightmare!!

I love these little finials - they are all round the city

I know you want to see what dinner was tonight - here goes 

First of all some baked potatoes for a complimentary starter.......!!!

Then some gumbo - shrimp,chicken,ocra,rice

Then some crawfish and rice - yes I know it looks remarkably similar to the previous...

Then to finish, cheesecake and blueberries

Went to a little theatre to see Joe Jackson

You do remember him don't you?? - is she really going out with him - different for girls?? Ah yes....

Just a 500 seater so a nice intimate atmosphere.

And then we took the trolley bus home 

No - just kidding on that one.

Tuesday in New Orleans

We decided to move straight on to New Orleans and spend an extra night there so we drove the 150 miles in one hit and checked into the hotel this afternoon 

Just a quick trip out to the French Quarter tonight and dinner at Mr B's - beautiful huge shrimp for me -  recommended by the chap I met in the restaurant toilet - he said he was a chef in Chicago and the shrimp here were awesome....... He was correct.

A little street band in Bourbon St

Loads of bars and restaurants around this area but also a lot of hustlers and people that are best avoided - the usual mix of nice bits along with the seedier side.

Monday in Lafayette

We popped down to the local diner for breakie

A little piece of Americana 

There is an Acadian village - not original but original buildings that have been moved here from all over the state 

It showed how the original settlers to Louisiana lived and worked 

The chap at the front of this picture actually was born in the house and lived in it till 1965 - he was a 5th generation Acadian and told us a little more about their history - in Canada they basically kept themselves to themselves during the French/British conflicts but things came to a head in the 1750s when the British wanted them to sign an oath of allegiance and also renounce their Roman Catholic faith.   They refused and the British burnt their villages and seized their land. The Acadians fled the country by any means, some going back to France where they were considered to be outsiders and some turning up in England where they were interred - others headed by ship down towards New Orleans which was a Spanish port in those days. The spaniards made use of them for cheap labour and over the years they settled mainly to the west of NO in some rather uninhabited areas that have now become what is known as Cajun Country. 

We took a swamp tour 

A fantastic place and a amazing Eco system - swamp has been here for around 200 years - it's just like you've seen in the movies.

Went to the Blue Dog for dinner - 

How many crawfish tails can you fit on a plate?? - Mama Mia!!!!

Sunday in Lafayette

We had a relatively early start today thinking we would get some breakie on the road to Lafayette - think again - it was a hundred miles before we found anywhere open that did breakfast - my fault apparently for taking the more scenic route! 

So now we are in Cajun country - the word comes from Les Cadiens or Acadiens - these were French speaking immigrants from Eastern Canada in the 1750s - they brought with them their own culture, food and music so there is a different feel to this area compared with up the road.

When we checked into the hotel they said there was a festival going on in the city so instead of chilling out down by the pool which was the plan we went over there and spent a few hours eating Cajun style and checking out the Zydeco music - fiddle, accordion, washboard usually.

It was great but I don't think I'll be buying the album!

I don't I'll be buying these either

Lots of stuff to do tomorrow so we celebrated being in Cajun country by ordering a Chinese takeaway and vegging out in front of the TV.