The Big Easy - July 2018
Day 1
Jazz brunch at the Court of Two Sisters in a secret courtyard. Fabulous food and service accompanied by clarinet, banjo and double bass, a great start. Our city tour guide tells it’s fascinating history: French, Spanish, American with large doses of unwilling Africans, willing Irish and enthusiastic Italians; a huge port with all the diversity that brings. A city of women, owning property and voting here long before anywhere else. A city of two religions: Catholicism and Voodoo an exhilarating mix! Parks and public spaces; unique burial rites, film locations, iconic musicians, sculpture parks - this beautiful city offers so much!
Cookery demo at New Orleans School of Cookery: Harriet, a highly entertaining, bubbly senior citizen, tells tales of cooking for her large family and how to fill ‘em up. No moderation here: the dishes are rich: full of butter, cream, fresh local produce & spices. Great food, very filling and flavourful but dangerous! Then sampling the famous beignets at Café du Monde as if I hadn’t eaten enough already!
Dinner at Dave & Busters, an all-American diner/games arcade/sports bar, popular in the US and great for families or stag groups: super games and machines to experience with screens everywhere showing different sporting events.
Day 2
We head into the swamp: expecting nasty smells and mosquitoes – but no! The swamp is all the rainfall of North America slowly draining into the Gulf of Mexico, as it’s constantly moving mosquitoes can’t breed and its sweet water: a nice surprise. Our boat captain is a real character with interesting stories about the region and curious facts and figures about the wildlife and plants in the area, a great morning tour.
Next Oak Alley Plantation – its grand house set in beautiful gardens by the Mississippi River, has been maintained intact, complete with farm and slave quarters plus its glorious 300-year-old oak alley, stories of the owners and slaves are lovingly displayed. Houmas House Plantation is similar but different. Privately owned and lived in by the owner: he’s kept many of the original features and added pieces from the period and added quirky touches to the house and gardens like murals in the entrance featuring his beloved dogs. Guides are in period costume and character, telling some great stories, helping to keep the place alive. Dinner is in the grand dining room, a splendid setting with very good food and wines. The bar where the owner meets his friends, locals and visitors has a very convivial atmosphere with modern artwork inspired by the region’s history. A lovely place to visit.
Day 3
At the New Orleans Voodoo Museum my roommate (also Elaine!) and I were treated to a fascinating introduction to what voodoo is, and is not, by the flamboyant curator Madame Cinnamon Black. The museum rooms are packed with incredible exhibits and artwork: Elaine said that there were lots of parallels to her African childhood memories. I’d highly recommend a trip to this museum: try to get there at opening time as the full introduction only happens for first and last entries.
Then we start an essential part of any fam-trip - hotel inspections. Hoteliers want to show agents their properties in the hope of attracting our clients to stay there: today we have 5 hotels to see.
Sheraton New Orleans is a huge hotel on Canal Street. Very popular for conventions, it has a great lobby area, large and airy with loads of seating, bar and coffee areas, local artwork; a popular meeting spot. Wyndham New Orleans in the French Quarter on Royal Street: a homely hotel in a great location, with a good local restaurant and bar, the place to stay if you want to be in the heart of it but have a tighter budget.
Hyatt Centric French Quarter New Orleans 5 star luxury in the heart of the French Quarter, with balcony rooms overlooking Bourbon St, there’s no better location to watch all of the action, especially during Mardi Gras, but you need to book early and have deep pockets. A gorgeous traditional building with fabulous amenities and the most central location.
Maison Dupuy Hotel is at the quieter, residential end of the Quarter. Well worth the walk: a lovely boutique hotel, very distinctive and unique, a fabulous café bar with Toulouse Lautrec-style murals, a beautiful internal courtyard/pool area and comfortable lobby area. Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, one of the oldest and grandest hotels, very traditional and elegant building, with beautiful rooms and public areas in a superb location. All are unique: well located, have comfortable, clean rooms and now I have a contact at each I can ensure that my clients get the best service, whichever they choose.
We ride in cycle rickshaw convoy to the jetty for the jazz cruise on the paddle-steamer Natchez on the Mississippi River. I helped my Dad to run his jazz club MadForTrad for 10 years, so this was a bit nostalgic. The band plays on the top deck and it’s piped around the ship: we were booked for dinner, surprisingly good food, but in the noisy dining room it was impossible to hear the music, so it would be better to dine before or after boarding the cruise.
Off the boat we headed off to Frenchman’s Street where every other building is a music joint, mixed with craft markets and unique little shops. The Spotted Cat Club was recommended but it was standing room only, so those with younger legs stayed on and a small select group (with tired feet) went to the Jazz Playhouse in the Royal Sonesta Hotel to watch an excellent band whilst seated and drinking rather expensive, but delicious, cocktails.
Day 4
Starts with a Royal Carriages French Quarter Tour: we board our ‘surrey with a fringe on top’ and are driven through the maze of small streets that make up the French Quarter. It’s a lovely leisurely journey and our guide is full of interesting facts and stories about his hometown: pointing out the Cornstalk Fence Hotel, where Elvis stayed whilst filming. Fritzels Jazz Pub for great music; and an old blacksmith shop still without electricity. Most enjoyable and when we get back to Jackson Square, we reward Moonshine, the mule, with carrots, which he loves.
Later I go to Mardi Gras World, studios where all the floats and paraphernalia for the Mardi Gras parades are designed and made. It’s fascinating learning about the methods used and how the krewe system works, it’s so much more than a parade.
Bye bye NOLA – I’ll be back!