Farewell to the River...

Before we left New Orleans, it was time to farewell the Mississippi River. We had traced it from near its frozen headwaters in Minnesota down through all the river states to Louisiana, and we got as close to where it spills into the Gulf of Mexico as the road would allow. We had crossed the river in over a dozen locations, as we criss-crossed between the states.

New Orleans' "Monument to the Immigrant"

Our final crossings were on the free pedestrian ferry which runs from the bottom of Canal St over to Algiers, and back, according to some timetable would could not find. This ferry has to contend with strong flows and heavy river traffic. The ferry affords good views back to the city and French Quarter, but there was no need to hang around in Algiers - we came straight back.

Here, the Creole Queen, the pedestrian ferry and an oil tanker manoeuvre around each other.

Railway/trolley lines run along the river side of the French Quarter, and there is a pleasant riverside walk. We sat here on several occasions for some time - there's a lot of traffic to watch on this river. We saw two cruise ships that had arrived undetected (by us).

New Orleans street-cars ply along a riverfront route, with the giant twin-span bridges in the background.

Like many US cities, very long goods trains pass right through or alongside the CBD, this one on the same thoroughfare as the street-cars use.

The Natchez riverboat runs from the French Quarter riverfront, but it was out of action for winter maintenance for the duration of our visit. Instead, we did an evening dinner/jazz cruise on the paddlesteamer Creole Queen which goes several miles downriver, then struggles against the current to return. The city view at night is nice, but it ain't Manhattan! A daytime cruise would be more interesting - the Creole Queen also goes to the Chalmette Battlefield, but we had already been there.

At night, the most distinctive building of the New Orleans skyline as seen from the crescent in the river is the Harrahs Casino.

Maybe the most interesting feature of the riverfront is the flood precautions. There is a continuous levee, but it is interrupted in places to allow service traffic, as well as trains and trolleys. At each interruption, there is a huge sliding lock door which can be closed to keep the water out. It is defences such as this which apparently failed during Katrina. The fact that the river level is higher than the ground in the French Quarter is painfully apparent, just standing on the levee.

All along the riverfront, the levee is supplemented by a sturdy wall to hold back rising tides. Huge sliding gates can be closed when required.

Revenge of the Polar Vortex...

The polar vortex has pursued us throughout this trip, from the time we first encountered it in Chicago, through bursts of record low temperatures in Duluth, Minneapolis and unbearably cold conditions in Dubuque. We have been in towns like Hannibal when they warned everyone to stay indoors. In St. Louis unaccustomed heavy snowfalls shutdown and disabled the city.

Now we are in New Orleans (where it "never gets cold"!), the vortex has caught up with us with a vengeance. A sudden state of emergency was declared, everyone was told to stay at home, most of the downtown businesses were closed, schools and government offices were closed, and street-cars were cancelled. The interstates were closed. We think the City was spooked by a lesser cold snap earlier in our stay here when were so many ice-caused accidents that they had to belatedly close all the (many) bridges. This time, with Winter Storm Leon, they were taking no chances! But there were limited resources - this city doesn't own a single snow plough or ice-salting truck, so de-icing was an unfamiliar uphill battle.

We tried to go to the movies to fill the time. Unfortunately, the downtown cinemas were closed too, although it took them a long time to remove the program from websites. Our discomfort was compounded because just a day or two earlier we had posted 33lbs of winter clothing and boots home (postage a mere $280) figuring we wouldn't need it any more, and knowing that Caribbean airlines are very restrictive on baggage.

Unfortunately, the state of emergency closed the airport, so our scheduled flight to Miami was cancelled, as was the later flight American Airlines rebooked us on to. We spent an extra day longer than expected in freezing New Orleans. Luckily for NOLA, 45,000 car dealer delegates at some huge convention had mostly left the city before the shut-down. We managed to get away on a flight the next day, although the state of emergency was still in place and freeways and bridges remained closed. The self-claimed "reliable service from professional drivers" of the Airport Shuttle we had booked didn't eventuate. This pathetic company did not even bother to inform us they had cancelled their service, and we only found out when we enquired. Instead, we caught a taxi who stuck to the surface roads in light traffic, for lower cost. We hope our refund from Airport Shuttle materialises!

We remain quite surprised at the City's extreme response to this situation. It dominated the news for days. But as we heard a lady at the near deserted airport say on TV, "in Michigan, we deal with worse weather than this all the time". But one differentiating factor is that, apart from the scare a few days prior, such weather is totally out of the box for New Orleans, and the ice-storm, once forecast, had to be defended against. With the temperature cycling below and above freezing, the wet pavement turns to treacherous ice really quickly. Dare we say it that we still think the airport was closed too soon on the day of our scheduled departure, because the ice storm conditions did not arrive until near dusk. Our flight, at 12:30pm, should have been OK, but they closed everything at 11am. The next day, driving conditions were perfect, and the airport airstrips appeared to be totally dry and free of ice. Closing the overhead roads and bridges may have been prudent, but we think the general state of emergency was an over-reaction. Of course, New Orleans is a city very sensitive to any criticisms of its emergency response.

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.

Music and Food in New Orleans...

The unique local cuisine of Louisiana is much vaunted. We found it to be interesting but largely uninspiring, and we were weary of it by the end of our week in N'awlins. We confess that we did not seek out fine dining but tried to eat in popular modest establishments featuring local specialties, mostly in the French Quarter.

In doing so, we did discover the essential distinction between Cajun and Creole. Cajuns are decendents of French people who were forced out of Nova Scotia when they refused allegience to the British Crown. Louisiana, bent on growth, welcomed them. Creoles are much more vaguely defined - they are the offspring of "non-Americans" which includes (extraordinarily) American Indians as well as African-Americans, the Spanish and French. Historically, Creoles live in the French Quarter.

We deliberately sampled Po'Boys (really just bread rolls with any filling), Gumbo (a thick and hearty soup with meat or shellfish), Jambalaya (another spicy thick soup or stew) and such delicacies as crawfish, baked oysters and boudin (an unpallatable dry fish/meat cake). Fried everything is available, and it's delicious, but after several meals, we earnestly tried to avoid anything fried. Boiled, grilled, barbequed or sautee'd entrees can be found, but you have to look for them in better class establishments.

Fried shrimp, boudin balls and baked oysters with cheese. Enough of this food!

The best meal we had in New Orleans was not "local" food at all. On a friend's recommendation, we went to the upmarket Mr. B's Bistro in Royal St and enjoyed grilled steak and fish with real vegetables and delicious bread! This was our most expensive meal here, but easily the best.

We are delighted to have had the opportunity to sample Creole and Cajun tucker in its home territory, but it is not something we would come back to New Orleans for. This city is fascinating and beguiling, and is well deserving of a visit because of its architecture, history and attractions, but the local cuisine is not the reason we would come!

The music is another story. Here, in the birthplace of jazz, we enjoyed a wide range of live music at many venues. Day and night, Bourbon Street is a cacophony of sounds emanating from bar after bar - many use music to attract patrons, those that don't use other devices like "barely legal" strip clubs. We called into many places to hear the current acts, mostly for the price of a drink, sometimes you can listen and watch from the door. Buskers on most corners add to the ambience of the French Quarter. We explored beyond Bourbon Street by visiting Frenchmen St in Faubourg Marigny on the advice of Sunshine, a cupcake lady. "This is where the locals go!" Along this street, the establishments publish month long calendars of their performers in the windows, so if you know the acts, it's easy to decide where to go.

Street performers in Bourbon Street add to the noise levels of the French Quarter. We heard that local residents have started to complain.

Clare has a taste for Zydeco (piano accordian), and maybe the best (and noisiest) act we saw was at Krazy Korner in Bourbon Street. We actually hunted this act down, having read about it, and the energetic performance by Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers proved to be not what we expected but very entertaining. Deafening too! And popular - this would be the one pub act that we saw that could command a fee from the hotel. The place was crowded and jumping, and the Hellraisers were very effective at collecting tips for themselves.

Leader of the Zydeco Hellraisers puts on a hell of an act.

Other members of the Hellraisers put in stellar solo performances.

Our formal homage to traditional jazz was at Preservation Hall in St. Peters St. This is a small old, dingy dump of a performance space but it is dedicated to the preservation of old-time jazz culture. Preservation Hall has three 45 minute performances every night, and it is packed to the rafters with about 100 people for each of them. Standing room is $10 at the door, and reserved seats (about 15 of them) can be booked online (we did) for up to $40. Those in the know pay only $10 and make sure they get in first so they can sit on 10 or so floor cushions in front of the reserved seating. The act we saw was the Paulin Brothers, a well known and well travelled brass band, and they were mighty good fun. We also got to hear the background of the family - the Paulin brothers dad, who inspired their musicianship, died only a few years ago. Three out of the 6 performers were not from the family - the piano player was a young Japanese lady, Ms Watanabe.

The crowd for "standing room" starting to form outside Presevation Hall over an hour before the first peformance of the evening

Photography is banned at New Orleans' Preservation Hall, so this image is from the NY Times.

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.

Voyage to the end of the River...

Everyone thinks of New Orleans as the end of the Mississippi River, but the truth is, the mighty river doesn't run into the Gulf of Mexico for another 110 miles, all of it part of a huge delta consisting of settled silt after from millenia of flow. We decided to drive 75 miles along the river past New Orleans to the very end of the road (LA-23) at Venice. This drive wasn't in our Plan A, mainly because we didn't know it was possible to get that far. We found that most Louisianans are not aware either, not even the people at the state visitors centre at Vidalia, where we got our maps. Even Venice falls short of the very end by a long way, and we figure that ongoing flow keeps extending the river further, slowly.

It's over 100miles down the Mississippi past New Orleans to where the river actually drains into the Gulf of Mexico. The red dot marks Venice, the end of the road.

At the end of the road!

We don't know how Venice got its name, but it's fair to assume that it is something to do with the abundance of water, in canals, bayous etc. which defines the entire delta area. Venice has suffered two recent catastrophes, devastation Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and oil washup from the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010. There has been a lot of remediation effort, but it must be a perpetual challenge to keep anywhere based on such shifting sands in good shape. The bottom half of the road has an untidy almost seedy feel about it, but that is typical of seaside towns everywhere where people "muck about in boats" - this one just happens to be very long!

Commercial fishing vessel "Wonder Woman" in one of the several marinas on the road to Venice.

Above ground burial is traditional in New Orleans, but the traditional reason, that being below sea-level, bodies will float out, is not borne out by fact. The tradition is probably an economic one. It's practical to add more family members to above gound tombs. This small cemetery is on the road to Venice.

Like almost everywhere else on the Mississippi, huge levees guard against flood. As usual, it can be hard to get a good view of the river. It's frustrating, from the road you can frequently see the upper decks of huge ships sailing up or down, but often you just can't get a better look at them! On a few occasions, when we saw a ship going by, we scrambled up on the levee to get a better view. This river is a major attraction for ocean going vessel-spotting, but you've got to have a good spot to do it.

This is how you build so you can see ships passing on the Mississippi River, seen at Venice LA.

The Mississippi River is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. It must be frustrating to have to navigate 100miles up it to the ports of New Orleans, having arrived at the river's end.

Sea bird disturbed by our interest near Venice LA.

Beyond Venice, by boat is the only transport option to get to the end of the river. We didn't contemplate this, but the sheer number of vessels of every description stretching down the delta road, and the presence of maritime industry, big and small, shows that a lot of activity takes place at the end of the river. Sporting fishing is clearly a major attraction during the season - a lot of cheap accommodation and camping areas are in evidence, but it was pretty quiet during our visit. Summer?

Remnant of the drawbridge mechanism on Fort Jackson near Venice. The fort was the scene of Civil War action, and was later used at a Union prison.

Our Plan B was to stay near Venice overnight, then return to New Orleans. It was an interesting exercise finding accommodation options for Venice LA, because online searches kept wanting us to stay in Venice Los Angeles, or even in Italy. In the end, we found one luxurious guest house (Saltbush Lodge) that seemed worth the splurge. It claimed a spectacular view of the passing parade of boats whilst sipping mint juleps on their upper floor balcony, but they didn't respond to our email or 'phone call. No doubt closed for winter. The house, which we located, was spectacular! Plan C, which we eventually executed, became to stay in an busy New Orleans suburb.

Luxurious looking "Saltbush Lodge" would have been a nice base for ship-spotting, but could not be contacted.

Down into Louisiana...

From Natchez, we crossed into Louisiana and followed the River Road on the western side, LA-15, then LA-1. Dub, from Nathchez's Steampunk Cafe, had told us to go this way. For long distances, the roads runs along the top of the levee. Farming along this stretch seemed to be rice, pecans and sugar. The land is flat and the farms are big, and we saw several acreages getting sprayed by yellow painted crop dusting aeroplanes. When dusting, they are really close to the ground, maybe only 20-30m up, or less.

Going south, we passed the point (the first on the whole river, we think) where it's the same state on both banks of the Mississippi. From here on, the Mississippi delta seems to be everywhere, and there are extensive engineering efforts apparent to control the river, for irrigation and flood mitigation, no doubt.

John James Audobon Bridge. Image from Wikimedia Commons

We crossed the river on a huge and new John James Audobon Bridge and called into the pretty town of St. Francisville. Before 2011, the only crossing here was a ferry. This blog has mentioned that bridges over the Mississippi are infrequent, because they have to be so big. This new bridge is the only crossing between Natchez and Baton Rouge, and is the largest of its type (cable-stayed) in the USA. It was certainly impressive to drive across! We were anxious to get to the plantations around Vacherie LA, so we didn't hang around in St. Francisville, but took the I-10 to get through/around Baton Ridge quickly.

Cast iron kettle used for sugar refining at Oak Alley. Facsimile slave houses in background.

Old photo of slave houses, from display at Oak Alley.

During the tour at Oak Alley Plantation(which was quite crowded), it occurred to us that there were almost no African-Americans in attendance (and none on our earlier tours either). This surprised us, because as unpleasant as it is, plantation life and slavery is significant part of the history of black Americans forcibly removed from Africa. Southern America is not in denial about the slavery in its past. There are frequent memorials to slavery, and the plantation tours are forthright about it.

The "big house" between the last two 300 year old trees in the Oak Alley. The view from the house 1st floor is stunning, but nowadays, sight of the river itself is obstructed by the flood levy.

Grand columns characteristic of Greek Revival architecture, at Oak Alley big house.

Oak Alley was a sugar plantation (common below Baton Rouge where cotton doesn't survive) - the house and grounds are immaculately preserved, but the orginal slave quarters are gone, and replaced by facsimiles. The most stunning thing about this plantation is the alley of oaks creating a driveway from the house to the river. These are 300 years old, and no-one knows who planted them. The "big house" dates from the early 1800's and was built by slaves for Creole sugar baron Jacques Roman for his bride Celina in the Greek Revival style (read Greek columns!) that we have discovered is very common in the lower Mississippi valley for grand houses and major civic buildings.

Bedroom and nursery of the Oak Alley big house. The furnishings are of the era of the original owners, but are not originals.

Our guide at Oak Alley, beside a map showing the plantations between New Orleans and Natchez.

We enjoyed the house tour: it is guided by men and women resplendent in early 1800 costume. Our guide sounded just like Scarlett O'Hara! Mint juleps were provided, to add a sense of reality. It was interesting to learn that the original house incorporated a spiral staircase in a private location - Creole sensibilities denied all but very close family and friends access to the private quarters upstairs. Later American owners (1920's) installed a regular staircase in the entrance lobby.

The plantation bell at Oak Alley signalled phases of the workday in a slave's life.