New Orleans outside the French Quarter...

New Orleans is more than the French Quarter. Prior to driving to Venice, we stayed in the hustling and bustling suburb of Harvey, and (see prior blog) on the way into downtown, we went via Chalmette. Whilst staying in the French Quarter, we ventured into Marigny Faubourg (up Frenchmen St), Treme (of the TV show fame), the CBD, and the Garden District.

We listened to Benny at Bamboula's on 24 January. The next act was on to late fo us old-timers!

The Spotted Cat Music Club in Faubourg Marigny looked interesting, but we're sure about its safety standards.

Innovative homage to legendary jazz musician Charles "Buddy" Bolden, who died in 1931, in Louis Armstrong Park in Treme.

Treme is the home to Louis Armstrong Park, a nicely landscaped area featuring ponds and fountains, statues of famous musicians, and performing arts venues. Housing in the streets of Treme resembles that of the French Quarter, but we didn't see any of the grand buildings. We didn't hang around in Treme, it has a poor reputation, but looked safe enough during our daytime visit.

Our task in the CBD was to find somewhere which would sell us some Euro in preparation for our visit to Martinique. Despite numerous very grand banks, this was not as easy as it seems. Most apologised, but said they couldn't help unless we had an account with them. This is not a welcoming stance to take with foreign visitors! We didn't see a single forex kiosk on our entire stay - we were directed to one, but when we got there we were told they no longer do that, only top up debit cards. Eventually, we found our way to the Whitney Bank, which happily accommodated us, but it took three visits and over an hour to consummate the transaction. Why is it so difficult to do this in the US?

The New Orleans Superdome which played a norious role after Hurricane Katrina, deserted this time with the city under a "state of emergency" due to unprecedented cold weather.

One bonus of exploring the CBD is that we found a Jambe Juice outlet. Here you can get freshly squeezed juices in delightful mixtures, which was a welcome relief from the bottled juice varieties. Our hotel had an excellent buffet breakfast, but fresh juice is a special treat!

The Garden District is several miles out of town, and we caught a trolley there - we would call it a tram, and, like Memphis, they seem to prefer really old models, freshly renovated and polished. The fare is $1.25, no complicated ticketing here, as in Sydney, no change given, although for $2.50 you could buy a day pass. On the trolley back into town, we noticed that joggers seem to prefer the grassy stretch between the trolley rails - maybe they are smoother and softer than the very irregular New Orleans sidewalks.

New Orleans' network of trolleys seem to intersect in Canal Street, which marks the border between the French Quarter and the CBD.

The Garden District is an upmarket place, replete with very grand mansions (we saw one previously owned by a victorious American generals) and Magazine St has a big strip shopping section. We also walked through the Lafayette Cemetery with its mostly above ground tombs.

Grand post-civil war mansion in the Garden District, belonging to a sugar plantation owner.

Uniquely detailed front fence detail from a house in the Garden District.

Above ground tomb in Lafayette Cemetery.

Spectacular wide eaving in an upmarket row of Shotgun Houses in the Garden District.

Enjoying the French Quarter...

We quickly figured out that NOLA simply means "New Orleans Louisiana", because the word NOLA is everywhere. Our Hilton Garden Inn hotel was on the border between NOLA's business district and French Quarter, an ideal placement (thanks Bob!) for walking around and doing some banking transactions.

The French Quarter from our hotel roof at dusk, looking down Bourbon Street.

The French Quarter (Vieux Carre) dates back to when New Orleans was originally laid out (1721) and is a large area on the outside of a sharp curve in the Mississippi River, more or less bounded by the river and Canal St, N. Rampart St and Esplanade Ave. Within that rectangle, there are almost 90 blocks to explore, and we tried our best to cover them all on foot, having had a sweet taste driving in. All of the streets within the Quarter are narrow and one way, just wide enough for one lane of traffic, and one parking lane. Through these narrow streets and tight corners pass all manner of cars, trucks and buses, including some huge semi-trailers. Most intersections are 4-way stop signs, but some are not, just to keep drivers and pedestrians on their toes. Luckily, the traffic moves very slowly.

The Spanish origins of New Orleans are remembered by numerous street signs like this one.

The French Quarter (and indeed, everywhere else we went to in New Orleans) is packed with tourists. Indeed, this is the first place on this whole trip that we have seen crowds of visitors. We think this is pretty normal for NOLA, but there was also a car distributors' convention in town with 45,000 delegates! And we saw two cruise ships, so this explains why the city is so busy.

Complex balcony lacework on this grand hotel building in the French Quarter.

Balcony decorated in readiness for the Mardi Gras festivities.

Almost all buildings in the Quarter are very old, and not very tall. Some are very grand. It is apparent that preservation and heritage laws apply, which is what gives the Quarter its architectural appeal. Damage from the floding of Katrina is still evident to buildings and pavement. The roads and footpaths are in pretty bad shape, and while a lot of work is going on, it's apparent (and probably justified) that the city's reconstruction priorities are elsewhere. Pedestrians have to be very careful of trip hazards and great holes where they are walking - knowing we are both prone to them, we were desperate to avoid sprained ankles. The sidewalks are also quite wet (with water leaks and odd rain), which freezes into very slippery ice when there is a cold snap!

When you can't find a street name at an intersection in the French Quarter, llok down! It might be in the pavement.

Arguably, the main street of the French Quarter is Bourbon Street. Along and around this narrow street are centred most of the bars and cafes, and live music can be had in most of them for the price of a drink. The Bourbon Street strip, especially at night, is reminsicent of Sydney's Kings Cross - it is rowdy with party-goers carrying alcohol (in plastic cups only, thank you) and touts for restaurants and strip-clubs. Buskers add some welcome character to the strip, and on every corner there is a mobile hot-dog stand (crawfish dogs are very popular) to sate the hunger of bar-hoppers. There are beggars everywhere. Basically, Bourbon Street is exciting but seedy, and more salubrious entertainment can be had in other streets of the French Quarter.

Royal Street in the French Quarter has many antique shops, this one sepcialising in old chandeliers.

Exotic but typical decorations for Mardi Gras.

Hotels are everywhere in the Quarter, including large and famous identities in very grand and historical buildings. Every block seems to have several hotels - there are all sizes down to quaint boutique models and very humble abodes. When you add the massive luxurious hotels in the business district, the total number of hotel beds in NOLA must be staggering.

Colourful dormer on an old house in the French Quarter.

You never know what is behind those shutters until they are opened!

Beautiful detailing in a shotgun house in the French Quarter.

Walking the streets and avenues of the French Quarter is a delightful experience. All buildings are old, and there is quite a variety of architectural styles. The city is all decked out for Mardi Gras (predominantly green, gold and purple) which goes for two months and adds to the attraction. House styles are particularly interesting, and many near the river have characteristic upper floor balconies which were used to exhibit slaves for sale. The so called Shotgun Houses are possibly the most common, and are exquisite and colourful when in good condition. Peering down alleys into the backs of Creole Town Houses, we could see delightful inner courtyards complete with gardens and trees and even swimming pools appear to be qute common.

St Louis Cathedral is the spiritual centre of the French Quarter, seen here from the Mississippi River over Jackson Square (after Major General Andrew Jackson) who won the Battle of New Orleans for USA.

Shotgun house in the French Quarter, heavily decorated for Mardi Gras.

We found a number of places where good cappucino can be obtained. These are invariably in out-of-the-way parts of the Quarter, and seem to have a decent established clientele. The staff are always friendly, and interested to hear what we think about their coffee. Spitfire in St.Peter St was one, and the owner there gave us good hints about where to go. However, we kept returning to the Croissant D'Or in Ursulines Ave because they also had great croissants and baguettes! Another friendly shopkeeper was Sunshine (she said that that was her real name) who directed us to locations our of the French Quarter "where locals go". Unusually, Sunshine was very well travelled - she was born in Barbados and had lived in Point Piper, Sydney!

We found several good coffee shops in New Orleans, but this one also had the much more rare croissants and baguettes.

Arrival in the Big Easy...

Wikipedia aerial view of New Orleans showing the CCC Bridge. The French Quarter is to the right of the CBD buildings.

Our arrival in New Orleans was a little unusual in that we crossed the Mississippi River by the ferry between the suburbs of Algiers and Chalmette, rather than the more obvious route via US-90's CCC (Crescent City Connection) two gigantic twin steel cantilever construction bridges. This routing cost us a whole $1 extra in tolls (since the toll on the bridges was removed about a year ago) but allowed us to visit Chalmette on the way in.

The Chalmette-Algiers ferry is doughnut shaped, and vehicles can drive right around its deck, so unloading and loading can take place simultaneously.

Here, we visited the battlefield and memorial for the Battle of New Orleans (1815) between the British and the Americans, well after the War of Independence. The War of 1812 (et al) was declared by the Americans to counter persistent British meddling to hinder US westward expansion after the Louisiana Purchase. We're of the age to remember that 1959 hit song The Battle of New Orleans and now we have seen the field where it took place. We've seen some of "the briars and the brambles" that the British had to retreat through! The statistics of the battle are amazing (only 20 American casualties compared to 2000 for the British), but looking at the battlefield and how well the US was dug in and defended, it's possible to understand how it happened. As is usual, the preservation of the battlefield and the establishment of the visitors centre by the US National Park Service, is just fantastic!

Painting of the Battle of New Orleans, from a plaque at Chalmette.

The American defences at the Battle of New Orleans.

The Chalmette memorial includes a plot dedicated as war cemetery. It contains mostly Civil War soldiers, very few War of 1814 soldiers, and none of the 2000 British casualties.

When we were finished exploring Charmette and a nearby Bayou, our Garmin navigator led us to our downtown New Orleans hotel through some of the areas which suffered most during Hurricane Katrina. They still look pretty bad - poor, damaged and distressed. We have no idea what is being done, if anything, to assist people with affected property in these poor areas. It's amazing to contemplate that much of New Orleans is actually below sea level due to progressive subsidence of the delta flatlands, "soft sand, silt and clay", so that when the levee system failed, 80% of the city flooded. The average altitude of the city is half a metre below sea level! Unurprisingly, there is debate over whether human intervention in the form of engineered levees (to supplement natural levees) is accelerating subsidence. Whatever, New Orleans appears doomed to more disasters as subsidence progresses and global warming increases. Half of the city's population moved out after Katrina, but it appears that many are moving back.

Our final approach to downtown was right through the French Quarter, and we could see what a delightful area it is. We looked forward to exploring it. Parts of many roads are closed for various maintenance, restoration and improvement projects, so our poor old Garmin got confused, but we got to see a lot of the French Quarter in finding our way. We checked into our hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn, and then it was time to return our RAV4 to Hertz, its owner, and become full-time pedestrians again.