A new running winner! This is one of my favourite places so far! :) We arrived straight to the French Quarter, being the oldest neighbourhood in New Orleans, there was plenty of history to see and old style architecture to takes snaps of. We loved this place from the off, such a great place to see with so many different influences, the French, Spanish and African American influences are particularly evident here. I found it hard to believe it was in the USA.

The French quarter covered a much larger area than I expected full of narrow streets lined with gorgeous old buildings. We both took so many photos, but it wasn't possible to capture how pretty and amazing this place is.

There is such a great vibe too. Many street artists, buskers, people selling things, all really added to the ambiance. In the centre of the French Quarters you can find Jackson Square filled with more talented buskers, palm readers, the St Louis Cathedral, the Louisiana State Museum- which has a whole floor level devoted to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005, but the best part was really walking around and soaking it all in.

There was also quite a unique spooky feel to the French Quarter, apparently known for its 'New Orleans voodoo' with African influenced voodoo merchandise and witch shops, we popped in a few and they mean business displaying mini shrines and bottled 'live forever dust', it was really interesting and creepy.

With the French Market selling their famous beignets (fritters) with coffee, alligator on a stick (obviously like a kebab not a whole alligator), 'Hurricane' cocktails, again there seems to be a lot of cultural influences on the food here.

We strolled around and found ourselves in the the VASO music lounge, there was inviting busy music bars everywhere, with continuous bands performing throughout the day and its free entry you just need to get a drink from the bar, not a problem! :) and the music was, in my uneducated ear, to a really amazing standard, covering lots of BBKing and various artists, a great way to chill for the afternoon.