Saint Louis Cemetery #3

Tuesday - 12 November 2002: New Orleans, Louisiana - Sit yourself down, get a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, and join me on my gastronomic day in New Orleans. Let me tell you, I walked about ten miles yesterday, and many today also, so hopefully the hydraulics on Goldie's passenger side will be able to "carry me on over to Oregon". Today promised a beautiful sunny day. It was just lovely, all day. We did have to wear sweaters, but it was a perfect (fairly-good hair) day to enjoy the city.

Our first order of the day was back to Cafe du Monde - now free of Hollywood - to have a cafe au lait and beignets! The moment your mouth surrounds the crispy outside and the fluffy inside of the doughy perfection - ah, bliss! $5.00 breakfast - for two. The Cafe du Monde, open since the late 1800's, has a VERY select menu. Coffee. Cafe au lait. Beignets. Hot Chocolate. Milk. They are open 24 hours a day. Why didn't I think of this? But, I'm not so dumb after all - today I was clever enough to wear a white shirt - hides the powdered sugar well. The sidewalks, and many of the people, one block either side of Cafe du Monde are sprinkled with powdered sugar. Okay, one meal down. Two to go.

A little bite of heaven in New Orleans


Beignets and Cafe au Lait

We decided to go on a city tour. We boarded a huge tour bus on the banks of the Mississippi, and were given a very good tour of New Orleans by a very good Creole guide. DT and I were the only two passengers on the bus not drawing Social Security. After the tour, DT commented that he hoped everyone on the bus had a good grasp of English, as our guide spoke with such a thick accent, and she spoke so quickly, it was difficult for us to grasp it all. Did you know that in New Orleans there are 3,080 restaurants (not including chains or fast-food), 4,700 bars and over 3,000 churches, synagogues, and mosques? We had a quick spin through the French Quarter (well, as much of a spin as a 40-foot bus can do on the narrow streets), and then visited the colorful Creole neighborhood - Faubourg Marigny, toured a cemetery, went through several parks, along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain and back through town via Tulane and Loyola Universities, and down St. Charles Street through the Garden District. The tour ended with a drive through the Central Business District. We learned that New Orleans is sinking at the rate of 3-inches per year and the water table is rising and the sea is rising and it is believed New Orleans will be under water within 100 years. New homes are built on top of pilings - 40-foot poles are piled straight into the ground, then another 40-foot pole is driven in on top of the first pole. We saw homes sinking, foundations cracked, porches falling, driveways caved-in and a city in decay. We also saw splendid mansions in perfect repair. Sometimes old and new, rotten and pristine, were next door.

The Saint Louis Cemetery #3 was most unusual! This cemetery is called the "City of Angels" because of all the angel statues on the crypts. Of course, everyone has heard about the above-ground cemeteries in New Orleans - the Cities of the Dead. If the bodies were buried underground, they would pop-up every time it rained - and they still do in some places. Families purchase "condos" in cemeteries. You are given an address and a key, just as if you bought a house! The most expensive "condos" are on the corners. Here's the deal: You die and are put in a casket and your casket is placed in the crypt. One year and 3 days later, they open up the crypt, remove the casket and "shake your bones down" into a pile and push them to the back of the "condo". When Aunt Agatha dies, the process is repeated and so on and so on until generations of your family are buried in the crypt. This is where the term "shake down" originated. People of different races and religions are buried here. The family of famous Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme has their crypt here.

Saint Louis Cemetery #3 - the City of Angels


Saint Louis Cemetery #3 - the City of Angels


Saint Louis Cemetery #3 - the City of Angels


Saint Louis Cemetery #3 - the City of Angels

After this whirl-wind tour, we needed sustenance - of the Gumbo kind! We headed to the Gumbo Shop - a fifty year old restaurant serving the "best chicken gumbo in town". DT had their famous gumbo and I had the vegetarian special - probably the best thing on the menu - black eyed peas and rice. It was divine, low in calorie, high in energy and slightly spicy. DT loved his chicken gumbo, too. We also shared the quintessential New Orleans dessert - bread pudding. A very nice, very inexpensive lunch. We recommend the Gumbo Shop.

Time to SHOP!

As we rounded the corner by the Gumbo Shop, Hollywood descended again. Now the movie set had moved to a corner cafe. Catering trucks, lighting trucks and generators lined the streets. Signs read: WARNING: You are entering a movie set. Your likeness could possibly be filmed and you will not be compensated if your likeness is used in the movie. Damn. Another opportunity for fortune wasted. We saw no stars, but did see a lot of people standing around doing nothing.

French Quarter scene


The Hemisphere Dancer lands at Margaritaville Cafe

In all our walking yesterday, we found a few shops we wanted to go back to today. DT wanted a t-shirt from Margaritaville. We had to buy pralines. At the praline shop, the owner was quite interested in our trip and waxed poetic about her visit to Oregon years ago. She gave us a lagniappe (a local custom, pronounced lan-YAP), meaning "something extra") - an extra box of the dreamy confection as a kindness. We went to a gallery featuring local artists, and also to a "dog bakery" for something for our furry friends. This was a fun store! Dogs were running around everywhere! People came in with their dogs and the shop keepers were handing out "samples", so the dogs would just come up to us, looking for a hand-out. Didn't everyone here have a treat in their hand??? They had coffee mugs for sale that read, "Always hold out for treats". My sentiments, exactly! On display, in a chilled bakery-style glass case, were dog treats of such beauty that I was tempted to take a few home for myself. The girl behind the counter said they "look good, but we use no sugar, that is not really chocolate, and they may break your teeth". Then off to the Hard Rock Cafe to continue DT's goal of completing Jane's pin collection. We were forced to have a beer and the bartender gave us our second lagniappe of the day - an Oatmeal Cookie. Not a cookie - EXACTLY - it was a cocktail he is working on and wanted our opinion. Something like Bailey's, Jegermeister, Cinnamon Schnapps, cream and some other sort of potent potion? It was delicious, but it was like dessert and I was in the middle of a beer, so only sampled his experiment. Still, when in New Orleans, it would have seemed rude to refuse a lagniappe.

By now, it was getting on towards seven o'clock and shops were closing so we thought we would try our luck at one of the best restaurants in town (that wasn't a Creole restaurant). What were the chances we would get a table? We walked in and told the hostess we would like to have a drink in the bar and then be seated for dinner. No problem. Bacco, located in the W Hotel, is rated the best Italian restaurant in New Orleans, and is owned by a local family, the Brennan's, who own several fabulous restaurants in town. The bar was very cozy - it is supposed to get down to 40-degrees tonight - and just beginning to full-up in spite of the late hour. In the Ladies Room, over the sound system, where most restaurants would have music playing, Bacco had a "Learn to Speak Italian" tape playing. We were seated at a romantic table for two in the center of the restaurant. We had three servers - two were named Daniel. One of the Daniels brought us bread, which was served with a spread made from ricotta (Bacco makes their own mozzarella, and ricotta is the by-product), fresh rosemary and olive oil. The combination was quite different. Tart, sweet and savory at the same time. We shared a Red Pepper Goat Cheese Tart appetizer, (sliced red peppers and creamy goat cheese on top of a savory pizza dough baked in a wood burning oven). Very nice, and light. I had to try the house-made mozzarella, of course, so had the Capresse. DT tried the house signature appetizer - Truffled Egg - an Italian (how do they KNOW it is Italian?) three-minute egg, dusted in herbed breading, flash fried and served on a toasted crostini with Gorgonzola sauce and sliced Umbrian black truffle. Oh, Wowzer, was this DIVINE! The sauce was so rich! A bite of the toast, soaked in the sauce was just unbelievable. On to the main course. DT continued on with the Bacco signature dish selection, Stracci. This pasta dish is spinach and tomato pasta "rags" (wide strips of pasta) with roasted chicken, fresh basil and spinach in a light tomato sauce. It is garnished with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I had a very unrisky Herb Roasted Chicken (chicken rubbed in Italian herbs, topped with a smoked tomato sauce, served with sautéed sliced red bliss potatoes and a whole bulb of oven-roasted garlic). I barely tried a fork-full of DT's pasta before his plate was clean - DT loves pasta!  My chicken was very nice - crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. We didn't save room for dessert and I had to bring most of my chicken home. Bacco was just a lovely, lovely restaurant. I highly recommend Bacco if you are in New Orleans.

RV Park: Jude Travel Park