The Big Easy - Bourbon St./Beads/Balconies and....Bikes!

We started our day off in New Orleans by going to mass in the magnificent St. Louis Cathedral - the oldest continually operating Catholic church in the U.S.  Not only was it a beautiful mass with the boys choir and a full orchestra, we met the Archbishop of New Orleans too!  We're not sure if he knew he was going to be posted on the blog...

The next few hours were spent walking the French Quarter and enjoying the balconies.



The beautiful, decorative ironwork is everywhere and after we took a horse-drawn carriage tour we learned that the iron arrived as ballast in the ships and was dumped at the port so the ships could be filled with cargo.

The other delightful story we heard from our driver in his slow, southern drawl, was about these little houses, called "shotgun houses."

They're named that because they're so tiny, you could open the door, shoot the bill collector and be out the back door before anyone could get you!

Of course we had to walk Bourbon St. at night!  We had been there before, but forgot what a crazy mix happens here.  It's definitely got a total party vibe as everyone walks around with drinks like "hand grenades" and "hurricanes". It's a little sleazy, but also has the most fantastic live music spilling out of every bar.

By day...

and night.

Jim liked the feel of Bourbon St. so much he applied for a job as one of the guys who hustles people into a bar.

The next morning was quite sobering (not because of the drinking...) as we went through the 9th Ward - the area hit hardest by Katrina.  It was very sad to see that 6 years later, there were still so many abandoned houses, not repaired and now decaying with mold and vines that had taken over.

 The FEMA markings are still on many houses, saying "gas off", or indicating the number of people found in the house.  40% of the population left and has not returned - many resettled in Texas and other areas that have provided subsidized housing and better schools for their children.

Thankfully, there is also a lot of construction and restoration going on, but one resident we spoke to said he thinks it will take at least 10 years for everything to come back.

This house has been restored right on the Mississippi River levee that breached during Katrina.  The rebuilt levee is only 30 metres away and looked like this as the river is rising to high levels again.

You can tell how high the water is by the lack of tree trunks.

From the very worst, we went to the very best - the gorgeous Garden District which is known for it's highly decorative homes and gardens.

and right beside it is one of the famous New Orleans cemeteries - beautiful and eerie at the same time.



The last day in New Orleans was spent exploring a wider area on bikes - a great way to see the city.  We hopped into the Chevy Chase Vacation Van and headed further south for Cajun country and hit the

7000 km mark!  We'll spend the next week enjoying the unique food, language, culture and music of the Creoles and Cajuns.