French Quarter

Tuesday
A great day taking in some of the sights and sounds of New Orleans. Rather than taking the St Charles Avenue streetcar straight from our hotel, we walked for a little way past some of the great mansions, and past Audubon Park and one of the impressive buildings of Loyola University, before taking the streetcar into the city. We walked along Royal street admiring the wonderful wrought iron balconies, and on to visit St. Louis Cathedral, and the neighboring Cabildo museum, with its exhibits on Hurricane Katrina and Mardi Gras. Outside the cathedral, we stood and listened to some of the jazz players and watched some of the artists at work along the edges of the park. We had to sample a beignet and coffee from Café du Monde, and walked through the French Market. It’s such a great city just to wander around, with no specific destination - so many sights and music everywhere. The weather was a little disappointing - temperatures were pleasant, though not as warm as I was expecting, and no nice blue skies like we had yesterday. Back to the hotel for a pre-dinner drink then out on the streetcar again for dinner, but this time in the other direction. I’ve put several more photos in extras musicians outside the cathedral, one of the unusual cornstalk iron fences, Loyola University, and one of the magnificent live oak trees which line many of the streets, providing shade from the summer sun, but wreaking havoc with the pavements!