Lead me not in to Temptation...

For I can find the way there all by myself. Left to my own devices for the second day in a row my morning was taken up by a tour of the city. It was interesting to see the above ground graveyards and the different types of architecture around the city and to have the reason behind them explained. We saw shotgun houses in the French Quarter before moving on to ground zero of Katrina. The devastation caused by the flood walls breaking is still very much in evidence but the rebuilding work is also starting to make itself known. There were some really interesting new buildings going up which are not only on higher stilts and more securely anchored they are also designed to float! Then it was on to higher ground where the houses are a lot bigger and a fair few are now owned by famous people, Nicholas Cage in particular got quite a few mentions during the tour. In general it was an interesting tour but I would like to have heard more of the older history of the city explained. After the tour I headed back to the French Quarter, this time walking down Royal instead of Bourbon Street which I am afraid was my undoing. There are a multitude of jewellery, art, antique and other interesting shops so how was a girl to resist? I am the proud owner of: yet more jewellery, not all for me honest; some perfume, which was completely necessary as security at the Captiol in DC stole mine at the beginning of my trip; some prints, which is actually a good thing because I did want to buy a painting which was $1200 so really I was saving myself lots of money; and finally some water and granola bars. Not a bad day considering most other tourist seemed to have been scared off by the rain.

Not deterred by the weather my latest new friend and I headed back downtown in the evening to Frenchman’s street where the emphasis is more on the music and less on the drinking. We visited two bars, The Spotted Cat and the D.B.A. bar: both had good bands but the highlight for me was the Spotted Cat’s second band whose oldest member was 82 years old. Their music was good and their voices had that distinctive jazz sound that you feel can only be achieved after many years singing in smoky bars late into the night.

On Tuesday we had planned to take a plantation tour but there was a little mix up which resulted in it being re-scheduled for Wednesday and my friend taking her Wednesday planned tour instead. We went with Grey Line and they were helpful and more than happy to help us sort out the mix-up. Once again left to my own devices I decided to take a trolley to City Park and the Museum of Art on the basis that I would be less likely to spend money. The Museum was closed but the sculpture garden was open. With the weather much improved and some interesting sculptures at my disposal I set about playing with the different settings on my camera. I also had a second opportunity to have one of the park cafe’s excellent muffins (which I knew about as the tour had stopped there briefly the day before) and to see the park without the rain. After taking many, many, photos is was back downtown to meet my friend and spend a little bit more money before heading back to the hostel before heading uptown for dinner. We went to Jacques-Imo's Cafe on Oka Street for some Creole food and then moved on to the Maple Leaf where we heard a local band made good called Rebirth play. The food was good but the band were better, it wasn’t classical jazz it was more upbeat but not pop or rock like, it was hard to explain but worth listening to and I’d recommend checking them out on You Tube.

Wednesday and the plantation tour was on. Before we headed out though I headed into town early with the intention of visiting the Voodoo Museum but instead ended up getting a croissant then having my tarot and palm read. It was good fun and the palm reading was interestingly accurate, I especially liked the part where she told me I had a little bitch line going on. Fortunes told I head to the bus for the tour. Our driver was amusing, imparting random information from Hurricane Katrina facts to the ball game statistics of the local teams. Once at the Oak Alley Plantation we were shown around by a lady in period costume and told the history of the plantation including how it came to be restored by the previous owners who created a non-profit foundation to maintain the plantation so that the house would remain open to the public after they had died. On the drive back our driver was still on top form this time throwing in some stories about his daughter as well. Having had a late lunch at the plantation we headed to Cafe du Monde at the French market to try their Beignet and in my friends case their coffee but in mine their hot chocolate, the Beignet and hot chocolate were very tasty but even diluted with chicory and half milk I still did not like the coffee. From there we headed away from the river to the Museum of Southern Art to see two of a series of six plays by Carolyn Woosley on Louisiana Women as part of the New Orleans fringe festival that we we totally ignorant about. We were treated to Clememtine & Clyde: though Clementine was interesting Clyde really drew me in and I thought the actress was superb, she made we want to really know Clyde, so much so that I wanted to jump right up there and talk to her! The real shame of the evening was that so few people attended. With New Orleans being known for music I guess the other arts sometimes struggle. We only found out about the fringe festival by accident as we were eating at the same place as some girls involved with the plays we saw. My advice if you are heading to New Orleans is to check out the arts listing as well as the general and music listings. Since it was my last night and my cab for the next morning was booked for 5 am it was back to the hostel via the Cheesecake Bistro where they served some excellent chicken and fairly decent wine. Then it really was time to pack my bags (again!  Really, why would someone who hates packing go backpacking?!) and get an early night so as not to sleep through my cab pick-up and LA flight, I really didn’t fancy that greyhound trip!