New Orleans

(or N'awlins as the locals call it. I love that.)

Just had a couple of days in Louisiana, visiting a salt mine, which was very cool. Before my flight home I had a few hours in New Orleans, which has a vibe unlike any other city I've been to. A friend told me that, if I only had a couple of hours, I should head straight for the French Quarter. I did and wasn't disappointed. First stop was Cafe du Monde which is famous for its coffee and beignets, a French doughnut with a liberal covering of powdered sugar. Delicious!

(This is not Cafe du Monde, just a guy enjoying a beer with his dog!)

The first thing I noticed about walking around the French Quarter was the music...it seems to come out of every pore of the city. You can't help but walk along with a spring in your step!
What else makes it great?...the street artists, psychics, funky restaurants, great bookshops and at least one house of voodoo. This is a definite candidate for the 'places to return to with Anna' -list (not because I think she's into voodoo, of course!).

Bourbon Street is a little tacky, but it was still good interesting to walk down it. It was there that I discovered zydeco - a Louisiana music style based on an accordion and washboard. A friend told me I should try and listen to it live and I confess that I wasn't too excited about that combination of instruments. However, I stumbled across a bar with a live band on and the modern, rock/funk take on zydeco was terrific. (It was very amusing watching the guy with the washboard, looking ridiculous, freak out like a lead guitarist.)

I didn't see any evidence of Hurricane Katrina. I guess they made sure that the tourist spots were cleaned up pretty quickly, rightly or wrongly. I would love go back for a weekend though and explore a little further afield.