We had never been to New Orleans and as part of our "Jazz and Blues" tour, Dave, Ali and Rach hopped into the truck and drove the 10 hours down to "The Big Easy". We had a couple of days exploring New Orleans, mainly the famous French Quarter where we stayed. Canal Street, Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, lots of little jazz clubs, the amazingly colourful houses and buildings with the Creole influence - it is a very eclectic mix of interesting people, smooth musicians, culture, style and plenty of cool music. At night though, Bourbon Street dominates and the strip clubs, the drunken parties and the destitute street people begging for a spare dime gives this area a somewhat seedy feel. For Sydney-siders, think Kings Cross at night but multiply by a factor of 10.....

 

We ate some great Creole food, including dinner at one of the most famous restaurants in New Orleans (and as it turns out one of the most expensive as well), and of course a highlight was Coffee and Beignets at the famous outdoor cafe at Jackson Square called Cafe Du Monde. This street cafe is famous for chickory-laced coffee and icing sugar covered hot donut type things called Beignets.... and in fact, that is all they serve. The tables and the ground are covered in a snow of icing sugar....very delicious (and of course completely calorie free!)