G and I came to New Orleans Saturday to take in our granddaughter's 4 day National Volleyball Tournament. Rachel's team ended up winning six matches and losing four. Great job, Rach! ( I love volleyball tournaments -- it's the only time I feel short.)
Matches were mostly in the afternoon and evening so we had mornings for sightseeing. We toured the Garden District, French Quarter, 9th Ward, City Park, and a cemetery where everybody was "buried" above ground. G and Paul spent many hours at the excellent WWII museum. You would have liked it, Chris.
Julie and I took the trolley to the New Orleans Museum of Art --NOMA. The building and setting are beautiful. The collection is not very large but it was worth the visit just to see the huge impressive portraits of Louis XVI and wife Marie Antoinette. The description by Louie's portrait told of New Orleans's offer of refuge when things were turning sour for him in France. If Louie and Marie had managed to escape to NO, Marie could have said, "Let them eat beignets!" Beignets are little pastries that are very popular in NO. To me they are a cross between sopapillas, fried bread dough and fattigmand. The bakery, Cafe du Monde, on the Riverwalk has a line out the door any time of day. Rachel said the wait wasn't bad--only a half hour (!).
We ate a lot of junk between volleyball matches, but did also manage to taste some great NO dishes. We recommend Felix's in the French Quarter--a hole-in-the-wall but good seafood. I especially liked the Jambalaya. Also had oysters, turtle soup and gumbo. Rachel told us to take a pass on the alligator sausage.
In a couple weeks we will see a replica of Lafayette's ship when it docks in Nova Scotia. I was surprised to learn that Lafayette was offered the post of Governor of Louisiana Territory after he helped us out in the Revolutionary War. He declined. Maybe didn't like the humidity.
We enjoyed New Orleans but are glad to leave the heat and humidity. On to Quebec City!
Here's an old photo of Rachel's volleyball team (I didn't manage to get one today)
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