Out in time to get to our meeting spot for the swamp tour pickup. The bus driver was called Rene (Rennay? not sure), and while on the 3/4 hour journey to the tour base, he was pointing out the damage of Katrina, and the rebuildilng that was still ongoing. Plenty of derelict building lots, boarded up houses and even one theme park in the distance, rusting slowly. He explained that how after Katrina hit, there were people who couldn't come back, or didn't want to due to family members and friends who had been lost in the disaster. He made you realise - whilst you might be aware of the city's circumstances - how much of it is based on reclaimed land and swamp, and how hard it must be to return to the place that was the scene of so much devastation.
Arriving at the swamp tour, we were introduced to our guide, Captain Bishop. He took us on an interesting tour of the swamp, obviously looking for 'gators', but saw lots of other wildlife such as tree snakes, wild feral pigs, turtles sunning themselves, blue herons, egrets & a red tailed hawk. After much speeding around the byways, again with an explanation as to how Katrina had changed the shape and course of the river & swamp area (filling in some areas, blowing out others, house boat & ship wreckage etc.), we eventually located some alligators. This was Bishop's 'secret' place for seeing 'gators, and we weren't disappointed. This is currently gator hibernation season as the water is still a bit cold for them - however, as it was a sunny day, we did see some sitting on logs warming up.
It is illegal to hunt alligators, unless you have a licence. The licencing works by allocating tags to people that may want them, with one tag to be used per 'gator caught - this way the numbers can be regulated in a manageable manner. The tags are apparently allocated on a lottery basis - however we did get the inkling of the political nature of tag assignment, as our guide said it always seemed to be the same people who got the tags! No change there then.
The whole tour was really good fun, and Bishop was a great guide with lots of knowledge of the flora & fauna - unsurprising as it turned out he lived in the more populated area of the swamps, with his own jetty, boat etc. all of his life. Getting back to NO around 3.30, we decided to try crawfish (boiled and in etouffe) & alligator as recommended by our Captain at a particular restaurant, entertained as seems the norm here, by a live band with a 2 hour slot. The area was starting to fill up with the superbowl crowds, but still not that busy, but you could see glimmerings of the chaos to come. [Crawfish are more or less mini lobsters, about as long as your thumb, and fiddly to eat and boiled with bay leaves which is abundant in the swamps. Although they tasted ok, the bays overpowered the flavour.]
After lunch, we checked out Cafe Du Monde, a place famous for their beignets. These are almost exactly the same as doughnuts, but in a pillow shape, and covered in icing sugar. Whilst eating these, we meandered back home absorbing the atmosphere and got home around 5pm. Beignets, while celebrated around here, weren't that exciting. They were nice, but not necessary to get from Cafe Du Monde in particular we think - european bakeries all produce cakes that are far nicer.
That evening, we walked back to Frenchman street to check out 'The Spotted Cat' which had been recommended for its music by the tourist information guy. Next door to it, there was a local craft market still open (8pm) that we had a quick wander around before popping into the Spotted Cat. Inside the Cat, there was a 3 piece playing - but we weren't really feeling this, and soon after sitting down, they finished for a break. Just across the road was Cafe Negril, so scooted over and into the old favourite. If somewhere that you visited once 2 days before could be considered 'old', that is. For those of you who watch the HBO show 'Treme', you might (or not) be excited to know that in Negril was Davis (Steve Zahn) checking out the band and eating tacos. Ordering tacos ourselves, we sat down with a beer to enjoy the 7 piece, who did not disappoint. It was getting late-ish by this point, so we left to walk home, as tomorrow was an early start and a mammoth drive.
Showing posts with label Jazz club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jazz club. Show all posts
Saturday, 2 February 2013
New Orleans - 29/1/13
Up late(ish) for breakfast, which had been laid out for us by David. While having breakfast (provided by the owners, which included a delicious fresh blueberry loaf), David came in to tell us of some things that were going on in and around NO in the next few days. Whilst B was chatting to him, he told how Katrina had affected them - 4 feet of water in their bottom floor, so they moved somewhere else for 6 months while the house was getting sorted and upon return, chose to live upstairs. The house had originally been 2 apartments, so there were 2 kitchens, bathrooms, living spaces etc so it was easy to do; once they'd realised that they could live upstairs with no problems, it was a small step to use the bottom floor for AirB'n'B - great for guests!
After breakfast we headed for the French Quarter. This was no more than 15 minutes walk away down St. Philip's street through Treme. On the way we stopped at a house that had a plaque outside; the house it was referring to was the first one to be owned by a 'Free Man of Colour' (f.m.c.) in NO, meaning that that person wasn't a slave. As we were reading, the owner of the house, Alvin Jackson, noticed and came to talk to us about what we were reading on the plaque. He then invited us into his house before giving us an informal history lesson about the neighbourhood and the free people of colour, explained through paintings on his dining room wall that he had commissioned for the purpose. It turned out that Al had travelled a lot, and lived in Europe while in the army & his German was pretty good! We spent about an hour there, and just before we left, he suggested that we visit the 'Candle Light Lounge' just around the corner which hosted the Treme Brass Band on the Wednesday (David had suggested it as well).
Saying goodbye, we resumed the walk to the FQ. Soon after crossing the boundary into the FQ, we passed Lafitte's, a bar that Ory had said was the oldest in NO. Certainly looked that way as well, since it was made of brick (unusual around here) and leaning at a crazy angle. Next up was Bourbon Street - the most famous in NO with tons of bars, and then found Royal Street. This was more of an 'art' street - every other shop seemed to be a gallery. B purchased a lovely Mardi Gras print, which had been painted by a local artist called Mousie, it was a limited print numbered out of 200. At this point we felt the first hunger pangs and enquiries directed us to 'The Praline Connection'. This was on Frenchman Street where most of the non-touristy Jazz bars were located (if that is at all possible).
First up: Gumbo! This is effectively a thick soup with a 'Roux' base. The roux is made from flour, water and spices. Then pretty much anything else is chucked in, depending on what you want - spicy sausage, seafood, veg, rice etc. B had an 'Etouffe' - a stew with chicken and rice and I had a shrimp 'Po-Boys'. A po-boys is a sandwich made with crispy bread, similar to a baguette. I was expecting something light, but no. It was huge. Fully half a baguette with battered prawns, veg and fries. I asked for a sweet tea, but asked for the sweetness to be toned down a bit - the lady said she did, but it was still eye-wincingly sweet. It would have been undrinkable (for me) in it's fully sweetened form. All in all, perfect for our first taste of NO cuisine.
Suitably fed (actually, completely stuffed). Moseyed back into the centre of the FQ via 'Decatour Street' to the tourist info and booked a swamp tour ($49), then back to Royal for more window shopping. Arriving back at the house around 6 to take some time planning for the next day. It was supposed to rain so were looking for indoors-y things to do. Found a NO cooking school - offering cooking demonstrations (and tastings obviously!) which had spaces. After booking this we got a cab to Frenchman Street (still being unsure of the the neighbourhood after dark) and ended up in a place called Cafe Negril ('Open 363 days per year'). This was a great place - food at the back (tacos), stage in the centre and the bar against the back wall. Shortly after we arrived there was a band change, John Lisi and the Delta Funk. These guys were awesome. Good enough, in fact, for me to buy 3 albums after a short negotiation for bulk purchase.
Still being pretty full from lunch, we had a couple of tacos just to top us off, freshly made, hot and delicious. Made it home around midnight. Got the impression that the bar was only just getting going.
After breakfast we headed for the French Quarter. This was no more than 15 minutes walk away down St. Philip's street through Treme. On the way we stopped at a house that had a plaque outside; the house it was referring to was the first one to be owned by a 'Free Man of Colour' (f.m.c.) in NO, meaning that that person wasn't a slave. As we were reading, the owner of the house, Alvin Jackson, noticed and came to talk to us about what we were reading on the plaque. He then invited us into his house before giving us an informal history lesson about the neighbourhood and the free people of colour, explained through paintings on his dining room wall that he had commissioned for the purpose. It turned out that Al had travelled a lot, and lived in Europe while in the army & his German was pretty good! We spent about an hour there, and just before we left, he suggested that we visit the 'Candle Light Lounge' just around the corner which hosted the Treme Brass Band on the Wednesday (David had suggested it as well).
Saying goodbye, we resumed the walk to the FQ. Soon after crossing the boundary into the FQ, we passed Lafitte's, a bar that Ory had said was the oldest in NO. Certainly looked that way as well, since it was made of brick (unusual around here) and leaning at a crazy angle. Next up was Bourbon Street - the most famous in NO with tons of bars, and then found Royal Street. This was more of an 'art' street - every other shop seemed to be a gallery. B purchased a lovely Mardi Gras print, which had been painted by a local artist called Mousie, it was a limited print numbered out of 200. At this point we felt the first hunger pangs and enquiries directed us to 'The Praline Connection'. This was on Frenchman Street where most of the non-touristy Jazz bars were located (if that is at all possible).
First up: Gumbo! This is effectively a thick soup with a 'Roux' base. The roux is made from flour, water and spices. Then pretty much anything else is chucked in, depending on what you want - spicy sausage, seafood, veg, rice etc. B had an 'Etouffe' - a stew with chicken and rice and I had a shrimp 'Po-Boys'. A po-boys is a sandwich made with crispy bread, similar to a baguette. I was expecting something light, but no. It was huge. Fully half a baguette with battered prawns, veg and fries. I asked for a sweet tea, but asked for the sweetness to be toned down a bit - the lady said she did, but it was still eye-wincingly sweet. It would have been undrinkable (for me) in it's fully sweetened form. All in all, perfect for our first taste of NO cuisine.
Suitably fed (actually, completely stuffed). Moseyed back into the centre of the FQ via 'Decatour Street' to the tourist info and booked a swamp tour ($49), then back to Royal for more window shopping. Arriving back at the house around 6 to take some time planning for the next day. It was supposed to rain so were looking for indoors-y things to do. Found a NO cooking school - offering cooking demonstrations (and tastings obviously!) which had spaces. After booking this we got a cab to Frenchman Street (still being unsure of the the neighbourhood after dark) and ended up in a place called Cafe Negril ('Open 363 days per year'). This was a great place - food at the back (tacos), stage in the centre and the bar against the back wall. Shortly after we arrived there was a band change, John Lisi and the Delta Funk. These guys were awesome. Good enough, in fact, for me to buy 3 albums after a short negotiation for bulk purchase.
Still being pretty full from lunch, we had a couple of tacos just to top us off, freshly made, hot and delicious. Made it home around midnight. Got the impression that the bar was only just getting going.
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