Arriving in New Orleans, we were excited to explore this storied city. We had scoped out places to park, but figured that an actual RV park would be our best bet as in a bigger city, we were more uncomfortable with stealth camping or a Walmart. We found the perfect spot (although from the outside, it did not look perfect) in the Mardi Gras RV Park, just outside the city. It was just off a busy road and near the freeway, so we weren’t sure at all about how good a sleep we would get, but it was close to the French Quarter and the price was right, so we paid for 2 nights and hoped for the best. The woman at the front desk was just as nice as she could be, which made up for the rather plain looking and fairly empty area we parked in. At least we had our choice of parking spots! Lol!!!
We found a bus stop just outside the park and hopped on the first bus that came by. All was looking good until we found we had to get off at a big intersection and get another bus that headed to the French Quarter. The first bus driver was very helpful in directing us to which bus to take, but the second, not so much. We had waited a long time for the second bus to come and when it finally arrived, we asked where we should get off to walk around the French Quarter. His reply was that he couldn’t help us. Oh… well then. I got my phone out and we just guessed at a stop, hopping off near the middle of the French Quarter on a lovey, warm afternoon.
Once off the bus, we wandered at will, looking at the colourful shops, people watching and listening and just enjoying the ambiance that is The Big Easy. It very much reminded us of many of the towns we had seen in Mexico and Cuba last year, which made us very happy indeed. However, here there was much much more. More music, more people, more… fun? I’m not sure how to describe it, but the lively atmosphere was enchanting and we thoroughly enjoyed just soaking it up as we wandered along.
Eventually, we decided to find a tourist information place where we could book a couple of tours. We had seen many people participating in walking tours, but we were in the mood for something a bit more relaxed. When we came into the office, the young man serving us recommended a bus tour which would take us to parts of the city we wouldn’t necessarily walk or drive to. It sounded interesting and relaxing as we wouldn’t have to do any navigating ourselves – a real treat for us! We also booked a swamp tour as Jim was very keen to see some alligators. With our next two days booked, we wandered back out and made our way up to Bourbon Street, which is much noisier and more vibrant than Decatur Street where we had been strolling. This is the New Orleans that most people picture in their minds and it lived up to that ideal – beautiful old buildings, intricate ironwork on the balconies, people above watching the people below walking through the streets and music everywhere you looked – in the bars and restaurants as well as in the street. You were never far from one beat or another and it was all pretty exciting. We stopped in at a restaurant to try their fare – Jim had a Po Boy (like a sub sandwich) and I tried their Jambalaya, all of which was very tasty. After dinner, we walked along, stopping here and there to listen to some music and eventually finding a bar where we enjoyed some beverages while listing to the band playing there. It was a great way to end our first day here in New Orleans.
Of course, at the end of the night, we had to find a bus back to our RV park, which took some doing and was not as quick and easy as we had though it would be. The young man who helped us at the TI office had mentioned that we could park for free just outside the French Quarter, and after the long long wait to take the bus, we decided that the next day this would be our plan. We finally arrived back at our van and tucked in for the night, hoping that the position of our park, between a freeway and a busy road, would not keep us up all night. As it turned out, it was unbelievably quiet! We were just far enough away from both for the road noise to become a low hum and with our earplugs in place, we both slept amazingly well – hurray!
The following morning, we both enjoyed the really really nice showers in the newly remodelled bathroom building on-site. A total plus! We then walked over to the office to ask if there was a place where we could lock up our bikes, not wanting to leave them on the van parked on a side street all day. They very kindly allowed us to lock them up behind a fence in what used to be the pool area but was now used for storing work materials. It was perfect – hidden behind a fence where no one really went, we left them behind, knowing they would be safe and sound and drove the shot distance to the French Quarter. This was SO much faster and easier than taking the bus! There was ample parking on the street, and we were quickly walking once again down Decatur Street, this time in search of a well known coffee spot, Café du Monde, where we stood in line for some beignets and coffee – a treat particular to Louisiana and the most famous spot to pick some up. We wandered over to Jackson Square where we found a bench to enjoy or morning repast while listening to a band playing nearby. Do these guys ever sleep I wonder?
We had some time to kill before our bus tour, and spent that time just wandering in and out of shops along the street before heading over the bridge to check out the waterfront park. It was another lovely sunny day and just perfect for sitting and watching the water slowly drift by. Eventually, we headed over to our tourist office to catch our bus. We were the first pick up and had the bus to ourselves for a bit before he stopped at some local hotels and it quickly filled. The tour took us to some of the different neighbourhoods in New Orleans and as he drove, the driver filled us in on good places to eat or find entertainment. I wish I had taken a note pad with me to write down all his suggestions! One neighbourhood that was of particular interest to us was the musician’s area. After the hurricane that destroyed much of New Orleans, many people moved to other parts of the country and a lot of musicians were lost as they resettled somewhere else. As businesses were rebuilt and bars reopened, they had a hard time finding musicians to play there. The word went out and some famous New Orleans folks like Harry Connick Jr. got together and created an area in town where a musician could buy a home for a very reasonable price if they were playing in the city. The plan worked and the city was again filled with music. One nice byproduct was the creation of a music school in this area, where young people come to learn to play and sing the jazz that is particular to New Orleans. At night, many of the street performers are young people from this school, out making a few bucks. We encountered a boy later that night who was just finishing up his night of dancing. He offered to dance for us, but as he was pretty young and it was a school night, the teacher in me rose to the surface and I gave him $5.00 and told him to head on home to get a good night’s sleep! I’m sure we would have enjoyed his steps though!
Another highlight of our bus tour was a visit to a local cemetery where we learned all about the special way the people here deal with their dead. As they live below sea level, burying underground is just not practical, and so they have family vaults that are above ground. But, these vaults have to hold a lot of people, and they really aren’t that big, so how does it work? Well (and you can skip this description if you are at all squeamish) the top of the vault opens and the body is put in there – kind of like the top rack in your oven. It is sealed up and can’t be opened for a year and a day, so if someone dies during that time, they have to go somewhere else. During this time, the heat created by the sealed up stone makes it like a super hot oven and the body quickly turns to dust. At the next burial, before placing the body in, someone takes a long pole and pushes the dust to the back where there is a hole open to the bottom. These ashes join those of their many forbearers and the new body is placed at the top. You know the term “I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole”?. Well, that’s where it comes from! Ha! Things you never really thought about (or wanted to), but there you go – you’ve learned something new!
The rest of the tour was spend driving through areas like the Garden District, where a lot of rich folks buy their houses, and they were pretty spectacular, I gotta say. However, we were going too fast to really take any pics and despite our good intentions, we didn’t go back to walk and take pictures later, so you will just have to take my word for it!
Our tour eventually ended and we headed back to the van. Since we were parked in a relatively quiet area, we decided to grab an afternoon siesta before heading back to town for dinner and evening entertainment. Although it was pretty warm, we managed an hour or two of down time, which was just perfect. If we had unlimited funds, we would have stayed in a nice hotel near all the action, but this was petty much just as good and didn’t cost us a fortune!
For dinner and entertainment this evening, we decided to check out Frenchmen Street, which was nearer to where we parked and a little more laid back than Bourbon Street from what we had heard. We quickly found a great little place with some nice jazz music going on and ordered a sampling of three things – rice and beans, mac and cheese and gumbo. They were all super tasty and the servings were much larger than we thought, so we ended up taking away a portion of rice and beans, thinking we could eat them for lunch tomorrow. After enjoying the music here for a while, we wandered up the street looking for another bar to stop and enjoy some more music, but didn’t really settle on anything we liked. We were headed back towards where the van was parked when we came upon a lively group of musicians playing on a street corner. They were fantastic – lots of energy and good music and a large crowd was cheering them on. We listened for a while, thinking how fortunate we were to just come upon these guys. What a great way to finish this night – just perfect!
Back at our RV park, we pulled into our spot, and settled down for yet another great sleep. It’s so funny the places that we have found that don’t look all that promising at the beginning, but turn out to be just exactly right for us!
In the morning, we again enjoyed their great showers and checked to see that the bikes were still safe and sound. We stopped in at the office to pay for one more night before heading out for our day at the swamp. Breakfast was nothing special today as we didn’t want to drive all the way into the French Quarter since our destination was in the opposite direction. We made do with a stop at the Waffle House before driving out to the Pearl River Wildlife Management Centre. There, we found our tour company and were loaded into a flat bottom boat, along with a group of about 10 others, to go in search of alligators and other swamp living creatures. It was a bit cool for the alligators, so when we did come upon one, they didn’t move a whole lot, but we did really find the whole tour fascinating. Instead of writing about it, I think I’ll just let the pictures and captions tell the tale.
Swamp tour done, we headed back to our RV park for a late lunch of wraps with beans and rice (yum!) before settling down for another siesta so we could enjoy our last night in New Orleans. Refreshed from our rest, we headed back into town, again parking on the side street and walking the short distance into town. As we had eaten rather late, neither of us was very hungry, so dinner was not needed. What we did want to do was enjoy more of the music of this great city before having to leave. We headed back to Bourbon Street, to the bar we had enjoyed on our first night. The band playing was pretty good, so we settled in for a short while to listen before moving on. However, on this night Bourbon was just a bit too busy for us so we headed back towards Frenchmen Street. Along the way, at a bar on Decatur, we heard a group playing more of a Motown sound. We stopped in and really liked what we heard, so we grabbed a couple of drinks, found a table and settled in to listen for a while. A group of women took to the dance floor and they were having so much fun! Eventually, one of them grabbed my arm and soon I was dancing with them. Eventually, a slow song come along and Jim joined me on the dance floor. We had so much fun, it was just the best way to end our time here in the Big Easy! Eventually, we made our way back to our van, but along the way ran into the same group of street performers as last night and so were able to have one last taste of the wonderful music of New Orleans before finally heading back to the park. Tomorrow we would be headed out of town to check out some plantations, but that’s another story. Merci, New Orleans, for a wonderful, magical time!
