On the road. Day Six. J's view.

 J.

Wednesday. Oops, THURSDAY. 1st November. Writing on 1st November. 

It's 5.51am.Been awake for about an hour so thought I'd jot down some memories from past couple of days in NOLA.

It's our final full day today. We travel back tomorrow but still have most of that day here before we head to the airport. 

But today we have a full day ahead of us plus our final night in the wonderful New Orleans. 

So, memories from day 1&2 in Nola...

We both loved the place from the second we got here. 

Our taxi driver was another lovely man. Full of character. He was turning 70 the following day and looked amazing on it. He had a great vibe. I sneakily recorded him talking.

He dropped us at our hotel - telling us that the Monteleone (pronounced Mon-telly-own) was the most famous and prestigious hotel in New Orleans. 

It's first night in the French Quarter, our first impression were just 'wow'. We saw the Monteleone's famous Carousel Bar to our right as we walked in. A very cool doorman opening the door for us. 

We haven't been able to get in the Carousel Bar yet, it's always absolutely chocker. We're going to try again today - the hotel gave Ian two vouchers for a complimentary cocktail, a gift from the VIP manager for his birthday.

Anyway, first afternoon and evening was spent getting acclimatising and - as usual - we found that we felt at home almost immediately. We're on 'Royal' and the next street down is the infamous/legendary Bourbon Street so we walked up Bourbon to get the feel of the place: hundreds of people walking up and down the street, loads in costumes for Halloween, loads of pirates (it's a big pirate town). Kids playing amazing beats, drumming on upturned buckets, music being played from the back of a flat bed truck (Bob Marley iirc), two fella driving round on space age motorbikes, all lit up, blaring music.

Bars with people spilling into the street, people wandering drinking from weird shaped bottles - elongated test tubes, hand grenades with funnels. God knows what's in them, no intention of finding out.

We ended up in Fritzels, three quarters of the way up Bourbon; a great feel to it, fairly lights hanging from the ceiling, little wooden benches, a small stage in the corner, a trio with an awesome sound. Ian got chatting to the banjo player - he's told you this yesterday - so we get a couple of songs dedicated to us, and drink Margaritas.

It had been a long day travelling so we walked on ,looking for somewhere to eat. Stood in line near to courthouse, got a window seat table in a lovely restaurant. I had a delicious jambalaya and blackened chicken. 

Couple of lads playing jazz on a corner over the road. Just drums and a guitar. Ian insisted on going over to tip them because they were playing some Steely Dan apparently.  

There were a couple sat behind Ian. 'He' ordered oysters. A huge pile arrived and he proceeded to work his way through the whole plate while she just sat there and watched him! Can't blame her, they looked rank (not a fan of oysters), but I couldn't believe she just sat and watched. Hopefully because she didn't fancy a starter. 

Nowhere in the hotel for a coffee so we ended the night in a small shop opposite called Sucre. Drip coffee and macarons (Salted Caramel, Almond, Pistachio) to end the night.

That's how day six finished. Tomorrow? Tomorrow is day seven. Halloween in New Orleans.