Tourists in Austin TX

So today we were tourists, we took the tour bus round Austin. The bus took us out into ‘The Hill Country, which is a very pretty area of limestone hills, with some great views of Austin, then a quick shuffle around the town showing some of its best bits. It was a very entertaining couple of hours. After this we were ready for lunch, so decided to go back up to the Hill Country to a BBQ place we had passed call ‘The County Line – Lake Side Place’, this as one will realise is beside Lady Bird Lake. I had combo ribs, pork and beef, Sally had combo of beef rib, brisket and sausage. I really enjoyed the ribs, but could only eat half of them, the rest we brought home in a box.

Lady Bird Lake is artificial and is a recreational area in the centre of Austin. It is named Lady Bird Lake after President Lyndon Johnson’s wife Lady Bird Johnson. They were local to Austin and there is an awful lot of stuff named after them as they were well thought of. They have several museums about them and a library (every President has a library which holds, among other things, every public speech, every bill, book and paper made or published by that President, which is pretty well everything that was done during and after their term of office. The library, I think, is always in the capital of the home state of that president).

After our meal we returned to Mount Bonnell, on the West side Hill Country, to visit the small park right on the top of the highest point in the area, with its great views of the Texas Colorado River and Austin. This unfortunately left us on the other side of Austin at 5.00, drive time (as they call rush hour in U.S.A.) is horrendous here, so a twenty minute drive turned into nearly an hour of crawling. Even so we really enjoyed our day today.

Return to the Riverwalk

On Monday we decided to return to the Riverwalk, partly because we had enjoyed the boat trip, but partly because coming up this Friday is the Annual Lighting of the Riverwalk and Boat Parade!!! We had delayed our departure from San Antonio to go to this and ordered tickets on line, but wanted to pick them up in person to make sure that they understood Sally would be in a wheelchair.

Although this should have been a pretty straightforward task, the use of the wrong address on the internet meant that we criss-crossed the Riverwalk district a couple of times to find the ticket office. However, that meant we were able to explore the streets at ground level, above the Riverwalk, because from above you would hardly notice the almost secret world of the Riverwalk. When we collected the tickets we actually talked to the director of the event on Friday night and he was able to reassure us that our tickets were OK for Sally, but suggested that we should arrive by 5.00, for the show at 7.00, as there would be a lot of people and parking may be difficult. They expect 150,000 people to come and watch, each with a reserved seat! We also found out that the event is televised on national US TV (don’t know which channel). So we are looking forward to this event, which is Friday, the day after Thanksgiving – Official start to Christmas!!!!.

After this little adventure we felt in need of a drink, we found a Starbucks which had a terrace overlooking the Riverwalk and relaxed for a while. Following this we descended to the Riverwalk in one of the elevators and strolled round one section of the Riverwalk, just relaxing and nosing, it was great fun.

Gosh then it was time for lunch, so we chose the Saltgrass Steakhouse in the basement of Landry’s Hotel, where we had a balcony table, again overlooking the Riverwalk, where we could people watch, boat watch and Mariachi watch.

Mariachi are wandering Mexican musicians who cluster round tables with their instruments and play traditional Mexican music while you eat, until you pay for them to go away. It adds a very nice background atmosphere to dining on the Riverwalk. We had a great lunch, in fact one of the best we have had this trip. Sally went for a steak and shrimp combo, while I had baby back ribs, very nice. We then wandered home feeling very full and ready for a good stretch out. In the evening we had a wander round the campground and sat and talked to a couple from Colorado Springs and a chap called Clint from Canada. Yes it was warm enough to sit out and there were no mosquitoes, an experience that has been all too rare this trip.

The San Antonio Riverwalk

Sunday, though tired, we visited San Antonio's second biggest attraction, the Riverwalk. Rather than walking, we took a boat trip, which on reflection was a very good idea. The Riverwalk is a small section of SanAntonio which has a small river flowing through (about 20ft wide). In 1928 some architect, called Hugman, had the bright idea of using the river as a nice spot to have a town walk and a place for restaurants, so he drew up a plan for creating a small loop in the river, putting walkways either side, and since it was below street level, lots of stairways and elevators to create easy access. America’s Corps of Engineers put in a weir and later flood control so that the water stays at a constant level. The effect is a delightful walk through a narrow river valley, with buildings on either side, but plenty of trees, tropical shrubs, cool shade and spaces with many places to stop and have a meal or drink, it is quite delightful.

It sometimes has a feel of Venice about it (although I have never been there), a narrow waterway with tall buildings on either side, also it reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean, as the architecture has a very Spanish feel and the whole environment is controlled with the gently meandering waterway, with its unexpected turns, narrow arched bridges and tour boats. The boat trip is very good value at $6.00 (senior rate!)and takes you at a very gentle pace round the whole of the Riverwalk, with lots of useless information about special bits of it. We loved it.

National Wetlands Area

Since arriving in Lake Charles we had planned to tour the National Wetlands Area, which is to the south of the city, on the way to the coast. Well Today, Friday, was the day. We set off early and drove South. As we left the city behind we drove across a wide level plain, the cattle fields gave way to rice fields then marshes.

It was very, very flat and very,very big. We made several stops along the way, looking at the wetland birds, many heron and egret, lots of hawks and osprey.
Also we saw at least six alligators during our trip.
We headed south to the sea, then followed the sea shore for about 25 miles, crossing the Calcaseiu river by ferry, we watched dolphins doing somersaults out tf the water as we crossed. We stopped on the beach for lunch, it was deserted, you could see for about 10 miles in each direction and it was deserted. Just mile after mile of sand beach. This, we realised, was the first time we had been to the seaside on this trip!
By the way, we saw no oil on the beaches or in the salt marshes.
I get the feeling that the tales of pollution have been greatly exaggerated for the benefit of those claiming restitution. We actually drove the car on to the beach at Helen Beach, but were advised by notice that 'donuts, figure of eights and wheelies' were forbidden. The area was very desolate in places, in others there was all sorts of activity, shrimp boats, oil wells, several helicopter bases, to supply the oil rigs, dormitories. We then frove up the other side of the Calcaseiu River, which was really an estuary about 5 miles wide, through another wetland area. In all the wetlands here seem to be a coastal strip of land about 30 miles wide and following the coast for about 100 miles. it was a fascinating day, and surprisingly plenty to see. So we were quite weaqry by the time we got back to the trailer, so we built a nice campfire and had burgers for tea.

Lake Charles

On Tuesday we took a ride into Lake Charles. After stopping at the Visitor Center, which was very nice, we took a self guided tour round the Charpentier Historical District. This is a district of houses which were built around the turn of the Twentieth Century. They glory in the the fact that they were not architect designed, but rather built from plans bought off the shelf, then modified by the carpenter builders of the time. There are lots of pretty houses, but nothing that you would want to have made a special journey for.
After this we were ready to eat, so we went to one of the recommended restaurants, called Shasha's. It was an OK meal, but I felt it was a little overpriced and undersized - are we getting use to the massive portions usually served do you think?
We finished off the day by getting the shopping in at a local Farmer's Basket, which is a big chain of supermarkets in this area.
In the evening we watched The Appalachians. This was the first of three programmes which we had bought when we visited The Carter Family Fold in April last year, when we were in Tennessee. Unfortunately it made us think thoughts about returning to the area, but it will probably not be for several years yet!

You Nice people of Eunice.

Thursday, the weather has returned to sunny skies, although the temperature has dropped to the sixties and thirties at night. It now feels like the crisp autumn days back home that tell us winter is around the corner. In this case high pressure build over The Rockies and forces a cold North wind to sweep down from Canada and the Great Lakes across the Mississippi plains, right down to the Gulf of Mexico (where we are).

As it was a nice sunny day we decided to return to Eunice to see the things missed on Saturday. As we drove down we took a couple of pictures of the extensive rice fields we drove through. Many of them were still flooded for the rice in them, others were dry and bare, but with the little levees between the fields.

In Eunice we visited the Jean Lafitte Acadian Plains Cultural Center, which is a National Park. It is one of six locations which make up the park, some of them are just buildings, like this one, others are land areas which reflect the geography. There is a big bayou park near Westwego, where we camped, outside of New Orleans. There is also a park at the site of the battle between the English and Americans, which is the story of the song made so famous by Lonnie Donnegan, (UK) and Mac Wiseman (USA), The Battle of New Orleans. This battle was fought as part of the little known war between the Americans and the British in 1812-1815, where the English 10,000 troops came second to General Andy (later to be President) Jacksons 1500 assortment army, mostly militia men. It also included the famous Pirate Jean Laffite, who is a big name round Louisiana, hence the name of the National Park.

We Visit Washington

Almost every state has a Washington, either town or county named after their first president.
Louisiana is no different. We had heard that it was a quaint old town which still had a number of old houses, so we decided to give it a visit. Camilla said she would like to come along as well.
Washington has the strange characteristic of being a port almost 100 miles from the sea and its bayou is quite narrow (it's too small to call a river). It is now a small town with only a single stoplight. However it has a small museum, some very nice houses and a plantation house (Magnolia Ridge). We toured the museum and spoke to a couple of very nice guides. They told us quite a bit about cotton and rice growing.
We then understood the significance of Washington. It is the only high ground that is reachable by river on the west side of the Achafalaya Swamp area, and although the bayou is quite small it meant that it was the only way that people on the West Prairies could get their cotton and rice out and goods in, So until the arrival of the train in 1830's if was a very important port. Steam paddle boats would come in during the winter, when the bayou was at it's highest, and take away the goods.

We then toured the little town, looking at all of the very old houses. Most interesting of all was the Magnolia Ridge Plantation. It was very well preserved and had beautiful grounds, although we could not go into the the house as it is still a private dwelling place. However as we walked round we met a very nice couple who are the caretakers. They were very friendly and we stood and talked to them for about an hour.
We ended up with them giving us a big bag of Pecan Nuts to take back to the trailer (this is big Pecan country, and this is the time to gather them). We then went and ate at the very posh Washington Steamboat Warehouse, which is a converted steamboat warehouse in Washington. We had a very nice, if slightly pricey, meal, Sally had Srimp Betsy (like a soup), I had Crawfish Etouffe and Camila had seafood Surprise (a pasta with a creamy seafood sauce).

Saturday Night in Eunice

Saturday. Well after the excitement of Fred's Lounge this morning (we really pushed the boat out by going to Fred's Lounge) this afternoon we determined to go a bit further south and go to Eunice. ( Sally's mother was called Eunice , so it's a bit strange to find a town of that name!!) Eunice has a very nice Art Deco Historic District, consisting mostly of its Main Street. It has several stores and The Liberty Theater, which first opened in 1924. Now every Saturday it is used as the venue for a Cajun Music Concert, "Rendez-vous des Cajuns," which is broadcast live on a local radio station, Radio KVRS and is available on the Internet as a TV broadcast.

You have to turn up at 4.00 to buy your ticket ($5.00), though the show does not start until 6.00. Inside you will find a number of volunteers/audience old timers who will tell you almost anything about Eunice, The Liberty Theater, Cajun music, the local area. Using their expertise we asked for a good place to eat before the show. That would be 'Ronnies' - pile it high and sell it cheap. Sounded good to us. True to their description we had a great Cup of Gumbo followed by beef tips on rice, with Purple Hull Peas (like a red bean stew, no sausage though), corn or green beans and two drinks set us back $20.00. We couldn't eat it all!!

On returning to our seats the the Liberty Theater, we watched a great concert of two Cajun groups, both with young accordionists. Cameron Dupuy of The Cajun Troubadours is only thirteen years old.

The show was introduced by Barry Jean Anclet, in crazy 50/50 Cajun French/English. It sounds French, but has an awful lot of English words that get ejected from the Gallic flow of talk. All the vocals/song names were in French. As the bands played so couples got up and danced round the small space between the the very uncomfortable old cinema seating and the stage.

It was another great night of Americana. An event that is unique to Eunice, Louisiana and its Cajun Heritage. For us it had echoes of the Carter Family Fold. It was a gathering as much as a performance. An event that required the positive participation of everyone. It was a great evening which we enjoyed immensely.

Deep Down In Louisiana

"Deep down Louisiana close to New Orleans
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode"
We are in Louisiana! What did we come for? We came for the Music!
What Music did we come for? C-A-J-U-N.
Well we are as deep in Louisiana as you can get. We been through the swamp and we been through the fields and now we hit the heartland, the capital of Cajun Music.
Its 10.30 on a Saturday morning, but the music has been playing since 9.00.
We are in a town called Mamou. We are in a bar called Fred's Lounge. Its been here since 1946 and it is a room, some chairs a bar and a band plus about 100 people who are having fun. They are here to listen to the band and talk and drink and DANCE.
Sally and I entered by the back door and were warmly greeted by a man in a check shirt - you would have thought we were old friends, or cousins. The only problem was we couldn't hear him because the roof was being lifted by the band (no I do not know what they are called). We squeezed past some dancers and I found Sally a chair and we sat for a bit tapping to the great rhythms. 3 or 4 people came up to us and started talking as they passed us. One woman was from Lafayette, who had moved to north of New Orleans and then come back. She was the daughter of the the original co-owner of the bar (not Fred, the other one).

Tante (aunty) Sue came round,wearing a pink Fred's Lounge T-shirt and talked. Now she owned the place, but insisted on swigging what I think was whisky from a small hip flask sized bottle, and offering it to everyone else around, She confided in me that she was 79. I later learned that she sells the stuff, but every bottle you buy she opens and takes a swig from (no I don't know why, apart from the obvious, that she likes to drink). But she was most generous and welcoming. Tante Sue later came tound offering pieces of free boudin to everyone. What is a boudin? - well, it's a fat sausage served hot which tastes like a cross between haggis and spicy (chilli hot) sausage. Very different. A couple of girls then told me that they lived about an hour away and came there quite often. A total stranger came along and left her camera with Sally to look after and then started chatting away. I told her she need not worry as I pointed to to at least four other cameras that had been put on the table as other people had gone on to the dance floor.

When I eventually made it to the bar, a tall woman just said 'Irish', to no one in particular. After that I found out that she had three kids, an ex husband, came from Mamou, moved up to Lake Erie and had now moved back down and was I ready to move on to the next bar. Being polite, I said I thought that was a great idea and pointed out that Sally was waiting for her drink. She wished me well and sent her regards to Sally. Meanwhile the music just kept beating out. Conversations only happened between numbers. During numbers people talking looked a bit like vampires (bit of an allusion to Halloween I suppose), as you had to get right up to the ear of the person you were talking to,and repeat it twice to be heard above the band. The room was probably about 20x30 ft. The drummer played loudly, the band was amplified to match the drums. Oh it was loud, but above all the Cajun rhythm just drove through everything, you couldn't help but bounce along to it. I couldn't resist buying a couple of T-Shirts, with their message from the management written on the back 'Please do not stand on the tables, chairs, booths, cigarette machines and the jukebox.' By about 1.30 we had had enough and left by the same back door, saying goodbyes to the people we had met. Well, actually it was 'au revoir' and 'excuse moi s'il vous plais', because all these pleasantries were conducted in French.
As we left a trolley arrived and a large number of people fell off the bus, some in bizarre and gaudy outfits, carrying glasses. What was this - a party? a wedding? No, merely a Boudin Tour. Yes I know I can hear your ask. OK, they were really part of a Mardi Gras Krewe from Lafayette! They thought it was about time they got started celebrating Mardi Gras (yes, next April). So they had set off with their Xanadu King and Xanadu Queen and a large number of their Krewe, who are and all girl Krewe, in order to ........ well I' not quite sure what! Just have a party on a bus and Fred's Lounge was on their agenda. So they went in (after a lot of fun on the grass outside) as we came out.
After this we returned to the sanity of our trailer. We are now having a rest, because tonight it is Cajun Music Part 2 '. We are off to the Liberty Theatre in Eunice hopefully to go to a live radio broadcast. We Will tell you more later.


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Baton Rouge Day 2

"Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train
And I's feeling nearly as faded as my jeans.
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained,
It rode us all the way to New Orleans."

How many times have I heard those romantic lyrics sung either by Kris Kristopherson or Janis Joplin? And here we are in that famous city.
Today we were going to get some music, we planned to be in Baton Rouge for the 'Live After Five' concert behind the Old Capitol building.
So we had a lazy morning and drove into Baton Rouge for lunch, parked and had Crawfish Etouffe in Lloyds, a Po Boy Seafood restaurant (though cafe was probably a more apt description. "Etouffe?" I hear you say. This is the third dish that is famous in Cajun Culture. As per usual the dish is served over rice. It is a roux sauce (oil and flour and milk) with all cajuny bits added. In this case it was their secret spices and Crawfish Tails, (small freshwater lobster). It was very nice.
We then toured the Old Capitol building which was built in 1835, only to be burned out by the Union army due to a cooking accident! The rebuilt in 1880. It has a beautiful cast iron spiral staircase right in the middle of the entrance hall. Apart from that not a lot really. So after that we went for a nice cup of coffee (tea for Sally) and unleashed ourselves into the concert. Curtis Coubello and the Insta-gators. Three guitars, fiddle (sometimes accordion) and drums playing coutry, zydeco and swamp-pop. It was great fun, as we joined about 3000 other people in the small arena area. We talked to loads of people and the music was excellent.
Came home about 7.30 having had a great day.

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Baton Rouge! - The Red Stick!

No I do not know why they named the place 'Red Stick', but I am working on it.
On Friday morning we made a packed lunch and set off along the bank of the Mississippi going into Baton Rouge.
Our normal routine for a new place is to:
1 find the Tourist Information
2 Find out about parking regulations.
Well we couldn't find the TI, so we stopped outside City Hall to find out about parking regs. The information desk was deserted, but a Shoe Shine Boy was happy to tell me that Sally's blue badge would be OK to use in Baton Rouge. He also told me where the TI Office was, so we were able then to get ourselves organised.
Baton Rouge is the Capital of Louisiana, so it has the Capitol Building as well, which houses the two houses of representatives and the Senate for the State. Often they are styled on the Washington Capitol building, with a big dome. Not Baton Rouge. It has the Old Capitol Building, which is square and looks like a castle and the New Capitol Building, which is a skyscraper. The story of this skyscraper is intermingled with its most famous Governor, one Huey P Long. He was the Governor from 1928 to 1932, He was supposedly a very corrupt Governor, with many stories attached to his term in office.
Anyway, back to the Capitol Building. The building was built, surprise, surprise, by Huey P Long (no not personally) and completed in 1934. Closely modelled on the Chrysler and the Empire State Building, it is a tower 30 floors high and was finished in 14 months! We rode the elevator to the top where you get a stupendous view of - well swamp, from every direction the land is flat and swampy, but that's what Louisiana is. It is still far and a way the tallest building in Baton Rouge and dominates the skyline. So Huey P Long was assassinated by his own men in his own building, just before he could declare himself as a presidential candidate. There were some very interesting politics in those days.
After visiting the Capitol we went to the Louisiana State Museum which gave us a good idea of the history and importance of Louisiana. In particular we learned about the Louisiana Purchase, in Dec 1803 the fledgling US bought 600 million acres of land to the west of the Mississippi for $15 000 000 from the French, only months after Spain had given it to France after Napoleon had given the assurance that it would never leave French hands. There appears to have been a fair amount of skullduggery attached to this land acquisition. This doubled the territory owned by U.S. and gave it control of the whole of the Mississippi Basin.
Anyway enough history. Our poor brains were sizzling. We drove home (back to the trailer) and made a lovely meal of burger for Sally, while I had the other half of the pork chops with red beans and rice that I had brought back form Sammy's last night.

The Trolley Song

Monday. It is a little know fact that New Orleans has electric trolleys (trams), Even less well known is that it is the oldest continuously operated trolley system in the world (1823). So today (Monday) is our chance to ride the trolley.
We had intended to return to the Audobon District to wander through the park, and perhaps go to the zoo. However as we passed the trolley terminus at the Leonidas district Jim suggested we ride the trolley. Seemed like a good idea, so we parked the van and jumped aboard a waiting trolley. The Trolley we are on is known as the St Charles Trolley as it travels down S Carrollton and then swings east and travels through the Loyola Univ., Audubon, Uptown, Touro and Garden Districts, past the Lee Circle and terminates at Canal St. These areas were built in Victorian times and have lots of grand houses fronting on to St Charles Ave, which is a wide boulevard lined with massive live oaks. The trolleys travel on an Up and Down line in the central reservation (US = Median)., so you can get a good view of all the houses we pass. As well as the Audubon Park and the Loyola University. Having taken the first part of the route, we jumped out at the start of St Charles Ave and bought ourselves a Stone Cold Ice Cream each. Stone Cold ice cream is a delicious ice cream, you choose the flavour and then choose what goes in to it, they then take your ingredients and blend them together with the ice cream. So I had Coffee with caramel and heath (dime , now Diem, bars) crushed in it. Sally found a dairy and wheat free Raspberry sorbet, which was very good. Jim had straight banana ice cream (no the bananas were not straight, the ice cream had nothing else in it) and Kathy had a green one, which could have been either mint of pistachio. Having had a break we hopped back on to another trolley and trolleyed right along St Charles Ave. We passed some wonderful big colonial houses, as well as some newer Art Deco houses. Many houses were decorated for Halloween. We had planned to go all the way to Canal St, but there were repairs being made to the track so we had to change from trolley to bus and it seemed to be a better idea just to get the trolley back, which is what we did. After this we were getting ready to eat, so instead of coming back to the trailer and cooking shrimp BBQ we went to a seafood restaurant called Bordreux's and has a seafood dinner, Sally had the dish of the day - rice and red beans with catfish, I had jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab. Both of them were delicious. After returning to the trailer we sat and watched Jim and Kath's home football (NFL) team the Jacksonville Jaguars lose badly to the Tennessee Titans. A great day.

Sunday in New Orleans

Sunday was another wonderful day weather wise - clear blue skies and constant sunshine. We drove across the Mississippi by another bridge and travelled along the north bank to get into downtown New Orleans. This lead us through a very nice district, obviously old, with huge, beautiful houses lining the streets. I thought they were real Pollyanna style houses - wooden slatted with huge porches and massive front doors - some had wonderful stained glass windows. They were very grand and, I imagine, you would need a fortune to buy and maintain one. They were next to a college- apparently a very old and distinguished college- which was housed in some magnificent buildings and opposite to a beautiful park. Eventually, we arrived in Lafitte Square in downtown New Orleans where there was a Blues Festival in progress. Thank goodness for my Blue Badge which enabled us to park in a handicapped space as there was nowhere else to park nearby. The square was shaded by very old and magnificent live oak trees which provided much needed shade - the temperatures being in the 80'sF (30C). There were two stages giving a platform for some very loud, but good blues bands. People were either sitting on their lawn chairs or wandering round looking at the many craft stalls displaying everything from photographs, jewellery, paintings to musical instrument's. Down one side of the square were the stalls selling food - creole, Mexican, burgers, BBQ, etc. We ate our lunch there listening to the music and just enjoying the atmosphere of local New Orleans enjoying their Sunday outing. After a couple of hours, we moved onto the French Market which is located on the river bank near the French Quarter. This market is on 7 days a week and is worth wandering through. They sell lots of touristy things - T shirts, masks, voodoo paraphernalia etc. as well as food and drink - but at a price!!! It really caters for the tourist but it was still worth a visit. We had a drink at a street cafe while listening to a live band - they were good! Kathy bought a hat - like a man's trilby but she looks good in it.
On our way home, we stopped at the fish market again and bought shrimp for our tea. Terry had a lesson in how to prepare fresh shrimp for cooking and then was initiated, by Kathy, into the secrets of making Shrimp In Brown Gravy Over Rice. It was delicious and the huge pot that was prepared disappeared in a trice!!! Thank you, Kathy and Jim for a new recipe added to the Phillippe menu! Tonight we are going to BBQ jumbo shrimp and cook them on the grill. Kathy and Jim leave us tomorrow and travel back to Destin, FL to attend a bikers meet. Jim rides a beautiful Harley Davison and they often go to bikers meets and meet up with fellow Harley Davison enthusiasts. We have very much enjoyed our time with Kathy and Jim - thank you for putting up with us!!

Busy Day In New Orleans - Part Two

On Saturday we had ventured out in the morning to the Westwego Jambalaya Cook Off, which was great fun. After returning to the trailer for a siesta, we were all ready to taste the delights of The French Quarter of New Orleans. So we loaded up and drove into New Orleans, parked the Van and walked in to the French Quarter by about 4.00. We first walked up Canal Street then along Royal, because that is where there are plenty of street performers in the afternoon. The first thing we saw was a New Orleans Wedding Procession, complete with a Boss Man and a Band, the bride and groom, policeman on a motor cycle and all the guests walking the street, it was very colourful.

We wandered up the street and listened to the street performers, who were mostly very good - one couple used a resonating mandolin! and electric gourd, an 'mbiri', or thumb gourd, with a pickup mounted on it.

Another good group was a classical violinist with a blues guitarist.

After Royal St we turned down to Jackson Sq and did a bit of people watching, the tarot cared readers and another posh wedding, with a full size harpist (no you fool the harp) playing against a background of passers by. There was also a particularly striking Street Statue entertainer. Well, having got so close we could not pass by without beignets in the Cafe Du Monde.

As evening approached, we watched some street dancers doing their stuff, very impressive. Buy now it was dark as we made our way back up the French Quarter to Bourbon St, which was now fully alive with people and street entertainers including a pirate, a man performing as a baby in a cut away car seat (I should have taken a picture, but it looked kind of gross), clowns, nearly naked ladies and a particularly good Michael Jackson/robotdancer.
Up above there were people on the balconies looking down at us looking up. It was all very pleasant. After walking Bourbon St, we walked back to the car and came home pretty well exhausted after what we thought was a pretty good taste of New Orleans.