We flew down to New Orleans to stay with D&S for Christmas. M&N were joining us on Christmas Eve, so we had some time beforehand to collect stuff for our Christmas Day festivities. D&S had to work up to Christmas Eve, so we walked all around the area, taking the St Charles tram, too, some days. We explored all of Magazine Street, seeing all the quirky signs, the Mardi Gras bead decorations, sampling coffee and cakes at lots of establishments and enjoying the warmer weather than we had left behind in Guildford. We even went carol singing in Jackson Square.
S planned to cook a special French Christmas Eve dinner for us all when M&N arrived, which we all
looked forward to, but Delta let them down and bumped them from their
connecting flight. This meant they arrived late on Christmas Eve, utterly
shattered. S’s dinner was not wasted, though and we had beautiful boeuf en croute albeit without the other
two. Christmas Day brought presents to open round the tree, then, as the turkey
quietly roasted, we had a short walk. We found the house with all the bear
decorations and decided we must come back to see it in the dark. D’s big
surprise for us all was tickets for the Game on Boxing Day evening. This was
between the Saints (Who Dat?) and the Atlanta Falcons. We rounded the day off,
having eaten lots of turkey and Christmas pudding by walking around the amazing
Christmas decorated houses on St Charles and the area in general, including the
Bear house, too.
On Boxing Day we went downtown and collected a ‘small bus’
that we would all fit into and met up with M&N who had taken the tram down
to the French Quarter for some sightseeing. It was so wet, that we dived into
one of the little jazz bars, the Spotted Cat Music Club and listened to some
jazz while sipping margaritas and beers. But we had to brave the elements to
get to the stadium. Once inside, it is all inside – the Superdome is completely
covered and the pitch is made of special artificial grass. It was all so
friendly and people were pleased to help us understand the rules. Fans from
both sides sat together, and some gently teasing went on, but nothing too
serious – a real family atmosphere. We had a selection of traditional snacks to
keep us going during the match along with local beers and generally had a great
night out – especially as the Saints won.
The next day we went off to walk in the Barataria bayou
area. Here there are boardwalks through the swamp with plenty of wildlife to
spot on the way. It was a beautiful day and we saw lots of creatures from
butterflies and lizards to birds of prey and egrets. The Spanish moss wafted in
the breeze and turtles sunned themselves on the trunks of trees. As soon as it
was dark, we drove over to the Botanical Gardens where they had a light show.
It was very busy, but once inside the crowd spread out and we could see all the
amazing illuminations that covered most of the area.
No comments:
Post a Comment