We explored mor eof the French Quarter today and went for iced coffee and biegnets at Cafe du Monde on jackson Square. Biegnets are basically non-dougnut-shaped doughnuts with a mountain of icing sugar on top! We found ourselves in a bar called Cats Miaow later and after we'd got a drink (3 for 1 again) the bartender came over and gave us another 3 each, explaining that a guy further down the bar had bought the house a round. I've always wanted to be in a bar when someone did that! Turned out he was stood next to us so we thanked him and he said he'd had a big win in Vegas. Later I spoke to him more and discovered that he'd been diagnosed with terminal cancer and didn;t know how long he had left, probably only months. he'd been in Vietnam for 6 years and after he came back from war he 'd come to New Orleans to bartend for a few years. He loves this place and said he just wanted to have a little fun before he died! Hence being flash with his cash as it didn't mean anything to him anymore. He was tipping the staff $100 bills and he bought another round for the house too. We saw him again later and went to Pat O'Briens with him, which is a bar he used to work in. Its one of the most famous places in New Orleans and is gorgeous inside, very dark with exposed brickwork and apparantly hasn't changed for 80 years. There are loads of different rabbit warren-like rooms and we ended up sat at the bar in one with duelling pianos. At one point Jim gave me a note and asked me to go and ask for some boogie woogie. The woman playing one of the pianos was much more accomodating and friendly when I passed the note, a $100 bill.....and just said "hell, yeah" (which is a very common phrase in the south.) He told us stories of crazy mardi gras' in the '70s and bought us 2 hurricanes ( a lethal drink which was invented in this bar)... we had to go home soon after!