New Orleans, French Quarter

[ellarien]

On Friday morning, early enough that it was only just starting to get hot and the streets were mostly empty of tourists, we went for a walk around the French Quarter, up Royal Street and then over to Jackson Square and back over to Bourbon Street and so back to Canal Street and our hotel. The only people about were street-cleaners and the occasional vendor just starting to set up for the day, and the odd hung-over tourist on a hotel balcony. The shops on Royal were shut, but their windows offered intriguing glimpses of antiques and art and jewellery. Mostly, I marvelled at the ironwork on balconies and grilles, intricate with flowers and fruit, cheerfully festooned in flags and hanging baskets, draped here and there with faded stray strands of beads. The magnolias were all in bloom, and looking a lot more at home than they do here. Something about Jackson Square started me humming the Marsellaise. Bourbon Street, with its sleazy bars and tacky souvenir stores, was less charming, and has a stink all of its own even in a city that isn't very sweet-smelling at best, but there are still some nice buildings there.