Criss-cross New Orleans

Couldn't have done all the walking in the last three days in these shoes, that's for sure. We have discovered them in a boutique in the French Quarter.

On Thursday, after breakfast with our friend Lisa in famous Café du Monde (beignets & chichory coffee, see pic) and some exploring of the French Market with her we moved to another hotel, The Whitney, which was, fortunately, not far away from the IPW hotel and we walked over with all our luggage and were, again, fortunate to get our room before noon. For the rest of the day we checked out museums, shops and restaurants in the French Quarter, visited the new Jazz Museum in the Mint, and explored adjacent Tremé and Marigny, both neighborhoods which formerly had a not-so-good reputation, but improved a lot in the last years. Of course, we had to spend time in our favorite record/CD store, the "Louisiana Music Factory", too. A muffuletta (a New Orleans version of an Italian sandwich, see pic) and a beer from Crescent Brewing Company made up our dinner this day.


Friday we had two tours: First, in the Ogden Museum, a highly interesting art museum focused on local (Louisiana & New Orleans) artwork. The great exhibitions and a very knowledgeable curator made it a real pleasure to spend almost two hours there.

After that, we checked out the surrounding Warehouse District - see pics above - whose name derives from its original function as an industrial storage area. This neighborhood is really up & coming, with new restaurants, bars, hotels and several museums, most important, the Ogden and the Confederate Museum (first pic), the Contemporary Arts Center and the still expanding huge WWII Museum, a big attraction for Americans, though not so much for Europeans.


Waiting for the bus ... waiting for public transportation is a popular pastime in New Orleans ... to Central City, where we had another tour in the new Southern Food & Beverage Center, a unique museum about food and drinks in the Deep South (see pics). This museum, the nearby new Jazz Market (a concert venue), the Dryades Market (pics) and a couple of restaurants and cafés push forward the development of this (predominantly working-class black) neighborhood around Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.We also found great murals on our way (pics).

Magazine Street - crossing the Garden District - our next destination, also showed to have become even more attractive. Great shops and boutiques (pic), restaurants, galleries, cafés - unique stuff, not touristy and a great street to stroll along.

In the evening we met with our long-time friend Christine from the NOCVB at Tujague's, the second oldest restaurant in N.O., celebrating its 160th birthday. Being on the job for over 40 years, Christine was quintessential for us by letting us know in the early 1990ies how tourism offices are able to assist journalists. We spent a wonderful evening with BBQ Shrimps and Lumb Crabmeat & Wild Mushroom Gnocchi as appetizers and the restaurant's signature dish, Beef Brisket (see pic) and catfish as entrées, to go with the signature cocktail of Tujague's, a "Grashopper". N.O. is famous for its cocktails, from Sazerac to Hurricane and a lot inbetween. We sat a little on Jackson Square to watch people after dinner - what a mixed crowd!

Saturday morning - very hot again, like on the first days in New Iberia - we started with the Farmers' Market closeby the hotel. Fresh, seasonal, local produce - peaches, tomatoes, melons, shrimps etc. (see pics) being sold. Trying to get a bus to the Bywater neighborhood was a mistake (it never came), therefore we decided instead to take the red streetcar to City Park (pics).


We visited the N.O. Art Museum (nice and cool), the Sculpture Garden, and, checked out the nearby Botanical Garden.

Back to the city center, we had brunch at the Court of Two Sisters (see pic), a "historic" restaurant with a courtyard and a jazz band. Brunch is served buffet-style and though service wasn't outstanding, the food was excellent. To burn a few calories, we took a bus along Magazine Street to Audubon Park, the second large park in the city, with playgrounds, golf course, public pool etc. We walked across the park before we took the green street car along Canal Street - a good and cheap sightseeing tour - back to town. We bought some provisions and returned to the hotel to sort through paper stuff (had to get rid of a couple of pounds) and to pack our luggage.