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When we left our hotel, we were almost immediately “in New Orleans.” That is, tourist stuff was at our door. Just down the street to the left was the back door of the Old Mint. We skipped it because we wanted to walk about and because it cost money to enter. We went around the corner and walked down the street that had the train to its left, separating us from the levee and the Mississippi. 

From there we entered the far or south east end of the French Market. Stand after stand of souvenirs. We’d seen plenty of it and somehow aren’t as impressed or interested by American crafts as we are by foreign ones. In fact, lots of the stuff is imported; that and its relatively high price is why we don’t care too much about it. Still, we lingered. At one booth a woman was making macrame braclets; simple things that had letters woven in; at your choice she would put a name or political slogan. Another place had bracelets, some of them reminiscent of Navajo turquoise ones. Jan, still looking for a gift for Michaela, found one we both liked and we bought it; see photo. 

Then we moved rapidly on through the market to the end nearest “town”. It is anchored by a statue of Joan of Arc. The city makes as much as it can of its connection with the French and France. This year is the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase and New Orleans ceasing to be French/Spanish territory and becoming permanently American territory (although threatened by the British in the War of1812 and held by the C.S.A in the early years of the Civil War.) For the Bicentennial, Jacques Chirac, President of France,was invited. Now, some locals, mad over France’s hindering US efforts in the UN to oust Sadam Hussein from Iraq, want to uninvite him. 

From there we crossed the levee (“took my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry...”) and got our first full view of the Mississippi. Here, it is not even as impressive as the Hudson; about on a par with the East River in NYC or the Thames in London. Maybe a bit more. But the weather was nice; there was a breeze, and we enjoyed a walk along the riverfront to the mooring of the sidewheelers Cajun Queen and Creole Queen. We declined to ride them thinking that it would not be cost effective; for $12 each we could do other things. 

Going a bit farther we saw the riverfront park and then turned our attention inland. It was probably just about here, somewhat opposite Jackson Square that riverboats of 150 years ago would have landed. So we were taking the same walk as visitors from a much earlier era would have. On our way to the square we found something they would not have: a newsbox with the NYTimes. We eagerly bought one and carried it with us to the Square. 

The square itself is as old as the city; it lies before the old cathedral. Sitting in its middle is a statue of Andrew Jackson, placed in his honor about 140 years after the founding of the city. It is handsome, even with the addition of the motto “The Union must be preserved” added by conquering Federal troops, about 1862. They occupied the city through the rest of the Civil War. We only occupied the square about 45 minutes, enjoying the shade of a big old tree, the fresh air, the greenery, and, best of all, getting a dose of “real news, real news in depth” from the NY Times. 

[To digress a little, perhaps what we have most enjoyed in this city are the giant old trees that line the old through streets like Chef Menteur (Chief Liar, would you believe?) and St. Charles. They call them oak trees, but they are nothing like the oaks of England or the northeastern U.S. They are not as tall, for one thing, but spread much wider with branches that arch in such a way as to create an umbrella shape that obviously provides the most wonderful shade. When planted along either side of even a very wide street these arching branches tend to meet in the middle giving the most wonderful feeling of serenity as you drive beneath them protected from the heat and glare of the sun. Add spanish moss to the mix and the atmosphere becomes almost mysterious. As you can tell, we liked them.] 

Replenished, or,if you prefer to borrow a term invented for a food establishment a few hundred years ago, restauranted, we crossed to the Cathedral. It was disappointing, pleasing only by its age. It does have some nice stained glass, but the whole effect is rather limited. We rather preferred the cathedral of St Augustine, seen only three weeks earlier. And of course, in comparison with the square and church at Krakow, both pale. 

We skipped the two (or is it three) museums lying adjacent to the Cathedral and set off to the old quarter on foot, following the walking route set out by the AAA book. It is renowned for its French architecture,which of course (let the record reflect this) is really Spanish. It is the Spanish, coming from a hot climate, who had balconies galore. When they got the place from the French they brought in and adapted balconies to the hot and humid climate of the Gulf. We did admire many of the buildings. Especially Jan. But while Gerry finds the iron work pleasant, he too easily sees beyond to what are essentially (in his eyes) plain and undistinguished buildings. 

When 2/3 through the tour (on Conti) we realized that it was lunch time. While looking for a simple lunch, we bumped into another church that we couldn’t resist: the St Jude church. We spent ten minutes there and sort of liked it. After lunch, we went for a walk to the northwest to see the modern part of the city. From several places we had seen afar the tall buildings and we wanted to get an up close appreciation of them. We got as far over as Union Station, which we found sad in its emptiness -- only three trains a day; it must have been quite busy four and five decades ago but even so without any architectural distinction . From there it was around the block for a climb up to the podium that surrounds the Superdome and a passage through the adjoining City Plaza shopping center. In the same neighborhood we found some street art which we liked. Then we passed the US Federal Circuit court building. The pedestrian way in front was blocked with several police cars. From the officers on duty we learned they are there 24/7. We walked down to Lafayette Park ( where we were surprised to find statues of Henry Clay and Benjamin Franklin but none of Lafayette) and beyond it along Lafayette Mall. All in all, attractive places. 

Almost at the river we came to the casino district. In front of one is a statue of a young looking Churchhill. On the river we found the free ferry to the Algiers district. We missed one ferry, caught the next, and rode over and directly back. It was enough water travel for us; we didn’t need, it seemed, the Cajun Queen trip. On the other hand, if it had been free we’d probably have taken it and would probably have enjoyed it about as much as we did our trip on the Pearl River in Guangzhou, in southern China. 

Afterward we were about to walk back when we decided to go into the adjacent casino. Both, especially Gerry, were impressed by its size. We had no idea such a place was available in central New Orleans. We thought they were all at Indian reservations. We bet and lost 25 cents on the slots and watched the blackjack for a few minutes. We’d hoped there would be low-cost meals at the casino but there weren’t; the buffet was about $19. So we walked back to Frenchman street through the old French quarter again and ate supper in Mona, the Middle Eastern restuarant we had found the previous evening. That we liked; we shared a plate of hummous, babba ganoush, tabouli, and falafel, supplemented by a small plate of Leban and a spinach pie. The falafel was especially good.