We left sleepy Lake Charles with a view to getting to New Orleans. I had mixed feelings about going there...excitement as I'd heard what a cool place it was, and trepidation as I wasn't sure what to expect after last Summer's hurricane. We'd heard news reports that people were angry that more wasn't being done to help them in the aftermath and they were being left to fend for themselves, but we'd had positive reports from fellow travellers (that's what we are you know...not tourists!) that the French Quarter is still alive and kicking and that it was still worth a visit.

For this reason our initial plan was to stay somewhere within the French Quarter itself. A quick glance at the accommodation booklet and our financial situations changed that idea fairly swiftly though, and we accepted the fact that we were going to have to go out to the suburbs. A couple of phone calls later we realised that a lot of motels were still closed for renovation and refurbishment, and so the trusty Motel 6 reared its ugly head again...The one we chose was on the far side of the city, and after having navigated the city's overly complicated interstate system, we realised that Hurricane Katrina had really left her mark. When we came off the interstate to find the motel, the traffic lights seemed to be permanently out of action and so you had to just take your life in your hands and drive, which was interesting! Expecting to find the Motel 6 surrounded as usual by every chain restaurant you've ever heard of and many you haven't (International House of Pancakes anyone?) we were a bit confused as it seemed that we were driving through a building site (that makes us sound fairly dim looking back on it), but what it actually was was a series of derelict and destroyed buildings...Mcdonalds, petrol stations, International Houses of Pancakes...We eventually saw the big blue and red 6 shining on the horizon, where the road pretty much ground to a halt entirely. There seemed to be some sort of commotion as we drove onto the forecourt, where a man was leaning into the driver's window of the car in front of us, which appeared to be loaded up as if the passengers were moving house, and was filling in some sort of form. We didn't realise until he leaned into our car that he was some sort of policeman/security guard (he was armed whatever he was) and he was checking that we actually had reservations for the motel. Quite what we would've been doing driving into its car park otherwise remains a mystery (and for the sake of my slightly edgy nerves at the time that was probably for the best...) Satisfied that we weren't planning on pitching a tent in the car park (presumably!) he waved us through. It was when we got out of the car that we noticed the smell for the first time. I guess it was just a smell of drains and sewerage, but it whatever it was, it wasn't very pleasant. We went to reception to check in only to discover that this was the most expensive Motel 6 we had stayed in yet. I guess they realise they have a captive market, but it seems a bit bad to shaft people just because they can (I guess that's how business works though, eh?) Having said that, this particular branch of the chain was quite posh, in that it had 'internal corridors' - quoted in the Motel 6 handbook as a "feature"! All the other ones we'd stayed in had had the room doors outside, around the edges of the swimming pool (like motels you see in the movies, where they find dead bodies in the pool.) We followed in a group of men who quite obviously had their entire lives with them in plastic bags, and it made me feel quite stupid that I had thought that things would be back to normal for people living there, even if it was over a year on.

Our room was the same as they always are, although perhaps a bit more recently decorated...the motel had been under about 6ft of water I think, and if you looked closely you could see the tidemarks on the walls...We settled ourselves in (it was late afternoon) and I found myself drifting off to sleep. About half an hour later I was woken up by Emily jumping off her bed to see who it was who had just let himself into our room. Amid much confusion we discovered that the man who had stayed there the previous night had wanted to extend his stay but for some reason they'd moved him into a different room without him knowing...Emily got talking to him and discovered that he was staying there whilst he was rebuilding his home - pretty expensive job at $85 a night! It really brought home how hard the place has been hit...

Lots more to say, but going to get cut off this computer in a minute. I'll finish this entry asap xxx