N'Olans

Apprehensive I was and I won't lie. Having read about places to avoid due to post-Katrina related crime etc, I hoped we weren't staying in any of them.

It turned out that 1 day prior to our arrival, we had nowhere to stay. Luckily, our good friends in St.Louis came to the rescue by hooking us up with their friends couch in New Orleans who, luckily, didn't live in one of these places-to-avoid.
Infact, he (and she, for he lived not alone) lived an a beautiful part of New Orleans called the Garden District, located about a mile away from the French Quarter.

Some pictures to illustrate...

A very relaxing few days in the Garden district along with several trip to the French Quarter.
On advise from pretty much every local, including our host John, we avoided drinking on the expensive and tourist driven Bourbon Street in favor for the much more recommended Frenchman St. A walk along these streets explained why and although Bourbon street had the layout - Bar, Strip Club, Bar, Bar, Strip Club, Strip Club, Tacky shop (which also had a mobile bar setup inside), Bar etc... which in my opinion was ideal for an easy night night out, lacked anywhere actually 'nice' to drink in so we stayed on Frenchman. (Although if I return and am not restricted by this budget, I shall enjoy a night out there!)

So, as that was a long paragraph, and I've run out of steam, we'll carry on my picture story telling format that I found preference for only 20 minutes ago.

Exploring the French Quarter outside of the bars and shops..


The graveyards are unique. Due to the swampy foundations, graves have to be built above ground. This makes for some creepy exploring..

We also went to explore these swamps, complete with Aligators and other nature (watch out David Attenborough!)
Bike riding around the city...


With our new hosts, Chris, Savanna, Cassie (and Snake)....


Mardi Gras after-math...Beads in trees on Charles St.

And ofcourse, drank more. Although I seem to have no 'good' photos of these events. I'm sure you've seen enough of beer photos for now anyway.

So, go visit New Orleans. I thoroughly recommend it. And eat Cajun food, because it's awesome and don't seem to have it properly in Blighty.