Where to start?

Or when?

New Orleans.  A long desired destination of mine….

…and in a way, completely overwhelming.

In some ways, it reminded me of Ha Noi.  What I’d been expecting was an old, quaint town and what I got was an enormous, hectic city.  Still very beautiful, but oddly disorienting.

However, I had a few ideas what I wanted to do, what I wanted to see, and one of those things/places was Cafe du Monde to eat a beignet….

 

 

….and it was mind-bogglingly delicious.

Such a completely touristy thing to do and you’re going to think I’m nuts (and maybe I am), but I was trying hard to choke back the tears.  This was a sort of ‘bucket list’ thing for me – to see New Orleans and eat a beignet at Cafe du Monde – and as I sat there, waiting for my order, I realized here I am!  I’m in New Orleans right this very minute and I’m waiting for that beignet.  I tend to cry when I check off a bucket list item (just ask the friends I was with when I saw Stonehenge – that was #1 on my list and I cried like a baby).  So, okay, I’m a dork.

Anyway, on to the walking tour and what I always did think of when I pictured New Orleans …

…those beautiful old balconies.

 

I want one in my dream home in Savannah.

 

…with maybe a few Mardi Gras beads hanging from the lanterns.

Grand.

….and a tad weird.

Such a quirky town.  This guy was apparently a news reporter doing a newscast about famous movies shot in New Orleans…. as a horse strolled by.

 

 

 

Maybe we should have taken the tour.  I didn’t see one single vampire the entire time we were there.

 

 

 

Had to take this pic in honor of my favorite drink.

 

 

 

Nice to know they’re taking in the gluten factor.

 

 

 

I want one.

 

We walked around the French Quarter (I kept wanting to call it the “Old Quarter” as in Ha Noi!) quite a while.

We made a few attempts to see certain sights, but waiting for buses and streetcars turned into a time-consuming affair which only got more complicated when we really weren’t sure which way to go.  The new World War II museum was one place we’d have liked to see, but it was much more expensive than either of us could afford.  In fact, that’s been an issue in most of the cities we’ve been in – the expense.   I’ve been spending way more money than I’d intended.  But, as Éva and I were observing the other day, most of the places we wanted to see in the eastern U.S. are cities and what we want to see out west are the National Parks.  So, I’m thinking that’ll be less expensive.  We’ll see.

Anyway, riding the streetcars was fun and the people were very nice.

Honestly, I think it’s going to take me a while to digest my New Orleans experience.  All these years of wanting to see this city, then feeling overwhelmed by it.  Strange.

 

Last, but not least, we walked through a few of the graveyards and here are some photos.

 

From the very ornate….

 

 

 

 

…to the very simple and sweet.

 

I wish I could wrap up my thoughts on NOLA, but that’s not going to happen any time soon.  Suffice it to say, I’d like to go back some day.