New Orleans 2

Day 30

Today we started with a visit to the French Quarter, including St Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square.  Then we visited the unique burial customs at an above ground cemetery.  Because of the high water level here it is not feasible to bury the dead underground.  So the family buy a plot and it is theirs forever. So every descendant can be placed there.  They have one below crypt area so when someone dies they can place the remains of the oldest corpse in the crypt below to make room for the next one.

We then took a drive down historic St Charles Avenue to enjoy the stately mansions and clanging street cars.  We saw a replica of Tara from Gone with the Wind.  The homes are huge and really beautiful.  They have lots of trees and huge park areas in the town.

We also saw the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.  Apparently it was not actually the hurricane that caused the damage. By the time it reached New Orleans it was only category 3, but 2 days later three man made levies gave way – one was hit by a barge that had come away from its moorings and two others were not made properly and maintained and just collapsed.  This caused the flooding to areas that were not normally affected by usual flooding and generally were not insured.  The new concrete in the photo shows the breach.

We came back and went to the Court of Two Sisters Jazz Lunch.  Apparently it is not only known for its variety of food but it has long played a significant role in the history of the French Quarter and old New Orleans.  We were entertained by the Jambalaya Jams Trio while enjoying a selection of over eighty items including gumbo, creole, grits, corn bread and a lot of shrimp dishes.  We did try a mint julep and as usual we ate way too much.

After lunch we went for a walk to the World War 2 Museum.  It was not as good as the Canberra or Imperial War Museum but we found that the landing craft used in the D Day landing were designed and made by Mr Higgins here in New Orleans.   Tony this plane is similar to the one your uncle would have been killed in in New Guinea. 

After that we went for a walk along the bank of the Mississippi River to see the big riverboats.  We have just got back to our hotel.

Things I learned:

bayou                   is a creek

street car             tram

mint julep           is not nice