Dixieland Part 3.........

On the morning of day four of our holiday found us on a city tour with an amusing guide called Carol who was originally from County Cork in Ireland but had lived in N'awlins for many years.   She told us many interesting facts on our way to the first stop which was the St. Louis Cemetary Number Three,

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where the funeral scene in the James Bond film 'Live & Let Die' was filmed.   There are some magnificent mausoleums in the cemetary.

Carol told us that when a body is interred in one it cannot be opened for a year and day, after which time it is opened and the contents of the last coffin are emptied at the back of the mausoleum and another body can then be interred.  It's unfortunate if a member of the family dies before the year and a day is up because they have to be buried elswhere!    There is a statue of Mother Theresa there too.

Another of our stops was at City Park where we walked round the Bestoff Sculpture Garden with its fantastic collection of modern and contemporary sculpture, presented in an exquisite natural setting.  I took photos of some of the exhibits and the legends which I've put in the slide show below.

After a quick lunch we were off of another trip, this time to Oak Alley Plantation.   The story of Oak Alley begins with the trees.   Sometime in the early 1700's, a settler built a small house on the site of the present mansion.  It was he who planted the twenty-eight live oak trees in two well-spaced rows, reaching from his house to the Mississippi River. 

In 1839, Jacques Telephore Roman, a wealthy Creole sugar planter, built the present mansion for his young wife - a bride's dream home!

The house was just beautiful and pefectly preserved and the grounds are magnificent too.

After the tour of the house we enjoyed a cup of Oak Alley's famous Mint Julep whilst walking back to the coach.    Before boarding the coach for the journey back to the hotel Alice suggested we walk up the levee to see just how high the Mississippi had risen.

As you can see the river wasn't too far away from the top of the levee which was worrying as the plantation was about 15 foot below the level of the river!

Apparently the trees in the foreground are usually on dry land, another indication of just how swollen the Mississippi was at that time.

We arrived back at the hotel with just enough time to shower and change before going out to eat at the Bon Ton Cafe, apparently it is the oldest Cajun Restaurant in New Orleans.   

It is one of the more expensive restaurants but the food was superb.  Here's what we enjoyed

Red Fish Bon Ton with a Crawfish Sauce

Parsley Buttered Potatoes

Creamed Cauliflower

Bread Pudding with Whisky Sauce

All washed down with a lovely bottle of Pinot Grigio.   If you'd like to see what else was on offer you can see the full dinner menu here.  If you're ever in New Orleans I can thoroughly recommend the Bon Ton!

After dinner we headed down to the famous Bourbon Street for a couple of drinks and to listen to the fabulous jazz bands playing in the vast array of bars.   

This colourful character persuaded us to go in the The Saloon

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Where we had a great night listening to Benny Turner Blues

and as they were excellent we're glad he did!

We would have loved to have stayed on Bourbon Street until the early hours but we had to be up early the following morning for a brunch date, a swamp tour and a walking tour around the French Quarter, which I hope you'll join me for in Dixieland Part 4 coming soon.
Read Dixieland Part 1 here.
Read Dixieland Part 2 here.