We arrived in New Orleans on Saturday morning and immediately went on a city tour. We drove through the downtown areas of the French Quarter and the Garden District and saw many vibrant and beautiful areas. We stopped in City Park and had morning tea consisting of coffee and beignets - a square donut slightly smaller than a slice of bread, served warm and dusted with icing sugar. It was delicious! After morning tea we drove on to see a cemetery where all of the bodies are buried in tombs above ground because of the high water content in the ground here. We also drove through areas that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina some nine years ago. There are many houses still vacant and boarded up, many still visibly damaged and mould visible on the outside weather boards. There are also many areas that have been rebuilt and many that were not affected by flooding at all.
Our hotel, Hotel Mazarin, is just around the corner from Bourbon St, is quiet and the rooms are large - found it on Trip Advisor and am very pleased. There is a lovely outdoor courtyard where we eat breakfast.
We wandered along Bourbon St and found a nice cafe for a traditional lunch of po boy and jambalaya. Bourbon St was already quite lively and it was certainly more lovely when we came back after dinner on Canal St - loud music from the bars, although not any Jazz that we heard. There were people on balconies throwing beads like they do at Mardi Gras and grog everywhere! It was nice to retreat to our hotel after a walk.
Sunday morning saw us walk to Jackson Square and then along the riverfront street to the French Market area where an annual tomato festival is being held. There were plenty of market stalls to see and music to listen to - some jazz, some rock but all pretty good. After a stop there for a while we walked back along the river to an outlet mall for some shopping. It was nice and cool in the outlet mall so we enjoyed this before coming out into the heat again and finding somewhere for lunch. There are so many great places to eat! We just have to concentrate on not eating too much! Tonight we'll go for another walk along Bourbon St and see what sights are there!