2024 started pretty well, as we were traveling to New Orleans in February. The cherry on top was “Mardi Gras” while visiting the city.
It was Vanessa’s and Valentina’s first trop to New Orleans and their first impression of the carnival around French Quarter. This would be my 3rd time.
Nostalgic New Orleans
It was the first time, where I stayed in a hotel, right in the heart of the French Quarter. I instantly fell in love, with what I experienced 10 year ago. The music in the streets, the good mood of the people, jazz & blues everywhere, good coffee places, the american friendliness around every corner.
It is actually a playground for adults, as it is the only US city where you can drink booze in public (Vegas is an exception as well). The streets tend to be super busy at night, however during the day, it’s also a very enjoyable city for children. They can dress up in costumes and collect the infinite amount of beads, some people hand out toys and kids items. Our daughter was happy, we were happy. A memorable trip.
Laisser les bons temps rouler.
Bourbon Street
Obviously Burbon Street is the most popular street, however not the coolest one. It’s packed, way too many people are getting drunk on bad shitty music. A lot of modern music, with a bad taste.
Most of the people hanging around in the northern part of Burbon Street, are the kind of people you don’t want to get acquainted with.
Further down, towards French Men Street, Burbon starts to get nicer. Less crowded and nicer bars.
Jackson Square
I love this iconic square. The church is truely magnificient. The musicians around the square, make it a cheerful area, where you want to hang out. Across the street, there’s the Cafe du Monde. On my first trip, I tried to avoid it, as I thought “look at the americans, they wanna show us, that they can sell French pastries”. Pretty convinced, that we had better stuff in Europe, I never visited that coffee place on my previous trips.
Traveling with a kid, I thought it would be a good spot to sit down and enjoy the vibe. And in the end that we had a break at “Cafe du Monde”. Their baignets were some the bests I’ve ever had, maybe even the best ones! If you’re lucky, a brass band will be playing right in front of you on the sidewalk. Now I’d definitely recommend “Cafe du Monde” :).
French Men Street
If you follow the main road along Jackson Square & Cafe du Monde, you will reach the French Men Street. It’s my favorite area for music bars. Cooler people, more laid back and better music. The bars and restaurants along the main road are pretty inviting as well.
Natchez Steam Boat
The Mississippi River and its Natchez Steam Boat are another iconic spot of New Orleans, it doesn’t come with a wow effect. However the walking path along the shore, the music, the big wooden steamboat, are making it a family friendly experience. During the Mardi Gras days, that river side is pretty busy with live concerts and many people are having a good time.
BARS BARS BARS
If you wanna get drunk, there are endless bars that serve cheap & bad drinks. But on the otherside there’s almost an equal amount of good bars, that will serve you fantastic drinks:
The Carousel Bar & Lounge (Monte Leone Hotel)
Cure
Latitude 29
Barrel Proof
Jewel of the South
Cane & Table
Bar Marilou
And many many more! There’s also the famous “Pat O’Brian” where the legendary cocktail “Hurricane” was invented. It’s a fantastic drink, if properly made. However nowadays you get a watered down version of the drink, a mix of powder and rum.
Sadly I haven’t seen much outside the French Quarter. The city park, Garden District, are still on my list to do. Same counts for the Louis Armstrong Park.
New Orleans is more than just a touristic city. It’s the vibe within the city, the culture, the food (different than most american cities).
America has a lot of racial problems within its country. However in New Orleans, it felt like black & white would get along just fine. Their culture and food is very influenced by african culture. It’s something I totally enjoyed, as it was way different, that what I knew from other cities I visited.
Fat Tuesday - The Mardi Gras
Obviously the biggest party happens on Fat Tuesday. Brass bands, marching bands, floating parades, street parties, people get dressed up and everybody starts yelling “Happy Mardi Gras”.
I never really enjoyed the carnaval parties in my own country, because of the bad music that comes with it. New Orleans is different. It’s good music, friendly people, and it lasts a whole week. Mardi Gras lasts 24 hours. A never ending party.
The “ceremonies” don’t take place at one specific place. It moves across the whole city, and it’s a kind of a lucky thing, where you got to hit the right spot at the right time.
I’ll keep this post short. As I’ve already written older posts ages ago about New Orleans. Not much has changed since then. There’s only one or maximum two hands full of attractions that you can attend. But like I said, to me visiting New Orleans is about the experience, the music, the culture. Enjoy the vibe, meet lovely people, and turn back home with a big smile on your face.