New Orleans

Early start for us today as we must off hire the car in New Orleans by 10.30am, some 175miles away. The journey is traffic free until we reach the big cities if Baton Rouge and New Orleans but even then, we’re not delayed. I haven’t mentioned much about our car or sat nav and that’s because they have been completely trouble free. We’ve loved travelling in the luxury of this brand new, big black Dodge Journey and the integral sat nav has made even the driving directions through big cities stress free. There isn’t time for long goodbyes as we are checked in at Enterprise and whisked into a complementary car for a ride to our hotel in minutes.

The French Quarter

The short ride to the Hotel St Pierre, gives me a brief glimpse of the gorgeous old streets of New Orleans, the French styling of lattice iron-work balconies, narrow streets and pots of exotic flowers everywhere I look. Our room is an attic room with a tall skinny window looking down on the central courtyard that’s arranged around the small swimming pool. There’s a huge 4 poster bed in the room, so romantic but we will need steps to get up onto it!

Band set up on Royal Street

Bags unpacked we set off to explore the city and wander around the picture postcard streets wowing at the ironwork balconies, the flowers, the tiny brick courtyards and colourful buildings. Refreshments are taken in a courtyard bar and afterwards we pause to watch bands set up in the street, drums, chairs and all. We bumble into Jackson Square, see the St Louis Cathedral, the riverfront and iconic city trolleys. The city is beautiful, exotic and bewitching, I think I’ve fallen in love with it already. Back at the hotel they lay out coffee, cold milk and the most delicious array of warm fresh baked cookies, we enjoy these whilst relaxing round the pool in elegant wrought iron chairs with comfy cushions whilst we make friends with the hotel kitten. That should keep us going till tonight!

A G&T in the courtyard before we leave sets us up for the night on the town. The streets of the French Quarter are starting to buzz, the night is hot and steamy and Pere Antoine’s entices us in. It’s a large, old restaurant set on the corner of two streets with large ceiling to near floor windows which are open. The place is filling up fast, we order a New Orleans speciality, gumbo soup to start, jambalaya, red beans and creole shrimps to follow and nona’s fruity bread pudding with rum sauce to finish. The words have no sooner left our mouths than the soup appears and a couple of minutes later the main course. As we struggle to eat all this food before it gets cold the waitress whispers to me I’ve got your dessert on the go it’ll be with you in a minute! I have to ask her to slow down a bit apart from anything else we can’t fit any more food on the table. Absolutely stuffed we roll out of the restaurant and waddle down the streets to ease our stomachs. Later on we pause in The Blue Moon Bar to listen to a live party band, watching the show as brides to be, birthday people are included in the show.

Us in Jackson Square in-front of St Louis Cathedral