For me, arriving in New Orleans is like arriving at home. I suppose it’s getting a bit like the package holidays some families take to the same places every year. But if you like a place that much, where’s the problem? And there’s never a problem in finding something different on Frenchman Street.
At the Spotted Cat, it’s all about the jazz, as you might expect in this town. Like many of the bars along Frenchman, this place has a seemingly endless programme of performances throughout the day and long into the night.
It’s fair to say that New Orleans stinks first thing in the morning. Or at least, the tourist trap of Bourbon Street does. The debris of a drunken night out is hosed down the drains – but in the heat of a September morning, where it’s already in the high 20s, the drains give you something back.
New Orleans is so much more than the French Quarter. The Garden District speaks for itself.
Tradition counts for everything here. One of the best ways of getting to the main sights is by street car. There are only three lines here so it’s not the main form of commuter travel. Some of the cars are a century old and the drivers have to carefully negotiate the traffic.
NewsMutt 