NOLA
I know I promised to post about my trip to New Orleans, but I have been dilly-dallying. I think, though, I'd better do it before I leave for France * - tomorrow! Ack!
The train trip down was a pleasure. Interesting companions at meals, and a good, comfortable sleep. I took a cab to the hotel and arrived just as Stacey was getting back from an exploratory walk around. We went to Lafayette Square to listen to music, a weekly event there, and then had dinner at Café Amelie, which Stacey had scoped out earlier.
The weather, at least for the first couple of days, was not great. Rain, and cool. When we got to Jazz Fest on Thursday, the Fairgrounds were a sea of mud. As a result, we spent a lot of time in the Gospel and Jazz tents, rather than checking out the outdoor stages. It was muddy when we went on Saturday, too. Colorful rain boots were much in evidence:
As always, we went to hear old favorites such as Germaine Bazzle (whom we also heard at her regular Sunday night gig at the Royal Sonesta Hotel), and discovered some new ones, like Naydja CoJoe:
One of the best events we went to was at the Kids' Tent, where Big Queen Cheree Harrison and the Young Guardians of the Flame were teaching about Mardi Gras Indians, though one kid, at least, apparently would have preferred to be elsewhere:
I'm so glad we decided to spend extra time in NOLA; we were there a full week. On Friday, we toured the Ursuline Convent, which is the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley. There was also a marvelous exhibit of Newcomb Pottery at Madame John's Legacy, part of the Louisiana State Museum. Then on Sunday, we were able to go to the New Orleans Museum of Art, which had a couple of very interesting exhibits, one on decorative arts from World's Fairs, and another specifically about Japanese art at World's Fairs, but which also included other items from the museum's collection.
Monday, we checked out the Contemporary Arts Center, which is in an area that also has the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Civil War Museum, and the World War II Museum, but we saved those for another trip. The CAC had a terrific exhibit about masking. We took the streetcar to the Garden District, and visited the New Orleans Women's Opera Guild House, which is pretty fabulous and a popular place for weddings. We browsed around Magazine Street, and checked out the Garden District Bookshop (one of several we visited during our stay).
Our last day, Tuesday, we paid our mandatory visit to the Café du Monde for beignets and café au lait. The rest of our stay we had been frequenting the Croissant d'Or, just down the block from our hotel. It's in a building that once housed Angelo Brocato's ice cream parlor (which still exists elsewhere in the city). Traces remain:
Having fortified ourselves, we headed to Jackson Square to the Louisiana State Museum, where we spent the next three hours, first in their exhibit on Hurricane Katrina and then in their exhibit on the history of Mardi Gras. After a bit of shopping we went to the Backstreet Cultural Museum and then rested up before dinner at Herbsaint, another mandatory stop when we visit New Orleans.
Stacey had to leave earlier than I did, so we checked out, and I left my luggage at reception and then went to the French Market. I dropped into the HQ of the Jazz National Historic Park, where the ranger clued me into an exhibit on the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at the Old Mint (which seems to be part of both the National Historic Park and the Louisiana State Museum). I bought a book that I'd been looking at, The "Baby Dolls": Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition, by Kim Marie Vaz. The ranger who sold it to me said, "I'm in that book!" Turns out she's one of the Antoinette K-Doe's Ernie K-Doe Baby Dolls! Baby Dolls are an old New Orleans tradition, started by African-American prostitutes who were kept out of Mardi Gras celebrations for reasons of both color and gender. You can read more about them here.
As always, we ate incredibly well, and, on my return home, I found that I had, indeed, put on a couple of pounds. But it was definitely worth it.
Here is the obligatory picture of cats hanging out. This is a shop where the owner weaves rugs, and the cats seem to have taken over her loom:
* I hope I get there! We learned today that there will an air traffic controllers' strike in France - starting tomorrow. It won't affect my flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, but might result in the cancellation of my flight from Amsterdam to Toulouse. What is it about me and Amsterdam? Last time, a volcano erupted! Our travel agent is on top of things, though, and it's nice to have someone else to worry about this and make the phone calls and handle any necessary rebooking.
The train trip down was a pleasure. Interesting companions at meals, and a good, comfortable sleep. I took a cab to the hotel and arrived just as Stacey was getting back from an exploratory walk around. We went to Lafayette Square to listen to music, a weekly event there, and then had dinner at Café Amelie, which Stacey had scoped out earlier.
The weather, at least for the first couple of days, was not great. Rain, and cool. When we got to Jazz Fest on Thursday, the Fairgrounds were a sea of mud. As a result, we spent a lot of time in the Gospel and Jazz tents, rather than checking out the outdoor stages. It was muddy when we went on Saturday, too. Colorful rain boots were much in evidence:
As always, we went to hear old favorites such as Germaine Bazzle (whom we also heard at her regular Sunday night gig at the Royal Sonesta Hotel), and discovered some new ones, like Naydja CoJoe:
One of the best events we went to was at the Kids' Tent, where Big Queen Cheree Harrison and the Young Guardians of the Flame were teaching about Mardi Gras Indians, though one kid, at least, apparently would have preferred to be elsewhere:
I'm so glad we decided to spend extra time in NOLA; we were there a full week. On Friday, we toured the Ursuline Convent, which is the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley. There was also a marvelous exhibit of Newcomb Pottery at Madame John's Legacy, part of the Louisiana State Museum. Then on Sunday, we were able to go to the New Orleans Museum of Art, which had a couple of very interesting exhibits, one on decorative arts from World's Fairs, and another specifically about Japanese art at World's Fairs, but which also included other items from the museum's collection.
Monday, we checked out the Contemporary Arts Center, which is in an area that also has the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Civil War Museum, and the World War II Museum, but we saved those for another trip. The CAC had a terrific exhibit about masking. We took the streetcar to the Garden District, and visited the New Orleans Women's Opera Guild House, which is pretty fabulous and a popular place for weddings. We browsed around Magazine Street, and checked out the Garden District Bookshop (one of several we visited during our stay).
Our last day, Tuesday, we paid our mandatory visit to the Café du Monde for beignets and café au lait. The rest of our stay we had been frequenting the Croissant d'Or, just down the block from our hotel. It's in a building that once housed Angelo Brocato's ice cream parlor (which still exists elsewhere in the city). Traces remain:
Having fortified ourselves, we headed to Jackson Square to the Louisiana State Museum, where we spent the next three hours, first in their exhibit on Hurricane Katrina and then in their exhibit on the history of Mardi Gras. After a bit of shopping we went to the Backstreet Cultural Museum and then rested up before dinner at Herbsaint, another mandatory stop when we visit New Orleans.
Stacey had to leave earlier than I did, so we checked out, and I left my luggage at reception and then went to the French Market. I dropped into the HQ of the Jazz National Historic Park, where the ranger clued me into an exhibit on the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at the Old Mint (which seems to be part of both the National Historic Park and the Louisiana State Museum). I bought a book that I'd been looking at, The "Baby Dolls": Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition, by Kim Marie Vaz. The ranger who sold it to me said, "I'm in that book!" Turns out she's one of the Antoinette K-Doe's Ernie K-Doe Baby Dolls! Baby Dolls are an old New Orleans tradition, started by African-American prostitutes who were kept out of Mardi Gras celebrations for reasons of both color and gender. You can read more about them here.
As always, we ate incredibly well, and, on my return home, I found that I had, indeed, put on a couple of pounds. But it was definitely worth it.
Here is the obligatory picture of cats hanging out. This is a shop where the owner weaves rugs, and the cats seem to have taken over her loom:
* I hope I get there! We learned today that there will an air traffic controllers' strike in France - starting tomorrow. It won't affect my flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, but might result in the cancellation of my flight from Amsterdam to Toulouse. What is it about me and Amsterdam? Last time, a volcano erupted! Our travel agent is on top of things, though, and it's nice to have someone else to worry about this and make the phone calls and handle any necessary rebooking.