TILTING AT WINDMILLS - THE LEGSYBOYS' EURO ADVENTURE

THE DAZE BETWEEN WEEKENDS.....

"Not today you're not honey" was the rental car consultant's response when, in response to her initial query of "What are you planning to do?" I told her "Well we're going to go down to Houma and maybe do a swamp tour and then head to Grand Isle on the Gulf Of Mexico and then Gonzales". Entering the hotel to collect the team for our day trip, I was met by Juju the day manager who instructed me to go straight to my room and stay away from windows - a tornado was directly sweeping in from Texas, impact time between 1:00 and 3:00pm! It's a weird experience being in a tornado (in New Orleans no less!), by 11:00am it is as dark as midnight, the wind is howling through the streets at 90mph, the rain is a deluge and the streets and gutters are awash.

But, by 11:30 it had calmed down to just seriously heavy rain, and so what do ANZACs do? They grit their teeth, jump in the car and head off in search of lunch in Houma!

In 2011, Tinno and I discovered this place by accident whilst heading to a swamp cruise, i.e. we were lost, and we wanted to go back and confirm our experience. We followed our trusty GPS and...got lost again! In Houma we even asked directions at a God fearing service station (with the bizarrest promotional sign I've ever seen at a servo), and get even more lost!

Finally, we found our El Dorado.....Boudreau & Thibodeau's Cajun Cooking Roadhouse!

It was all we remembered it to be, and then some....magnificent cajun food, we tucked into the gumbo (the best!), 3lb of spicy boiled crawfish (mmm, mmm), blackened catfish, cheesecake and pecan pie - a feast of epic proportions. (Travel Tip:a visit here is essential when near NO. In the heart of the bayous, it's less than an hour away if you know where you're going, or 90 minutes with Tinno and me!).

Delicious seafood gumbo

OMG!

The one on the left is Tinno!

Eat your heart out Rex Hunt!

How about the food appropriate attire!!

Tinno is too preoccupied to notice 'us'.

Aaargh, eat up Legsy

The aftermath

Pecan pie

Tinno's cheesecake - he couldn't wait for me to take a pic.

There's obviously no swamp cruises happening and so we cut up to the outlet stores in Gonzales to stock up on clothes (Travel Tip: if you wear Levi's it's a no brainer. The cost of a hire car, the petrol, and a pair of Levi' 511s - size 36/34 if you're interested - is less than buying one pair in Oz or the UK. Don L buys six pairs!!). On our way we drive through swamps and bayous and housing estates that have been totally trashed by the tornado, power lines and debris are strewn over the ground, and it makes one wonder why on earth people continue to build homes below sea level. We've only experienced a minor tornado, goodness knows what these people felt ten years ago!

Spot the gator in this pic!

We have a quiet dinner around the corner from IOU and, as usual, find that one entree each (Travel Tip: in the USA, what we call 'entree' is an 'appertiser' and our main course is an 'entree', so should you see a visiting American upset at the size of his 'entree' when visiting Australia then have some sympathy) is waaay too much food. Thankfully, the waitress gives us a pizza box for the excess food and then takes it outside and places it on the rubbish bin outside....and so the homeless of New Orleans get food without delving into the depths of filthy bins (sadly, there are a LOT of homeless YOUNG people in NO). It's pretty sobering to witness.

Homeless leftovers - at least someone won't go hungry tonight.

Tuesday, and I'm looking for some western shirts, so after grabbing brekky around the corner at Matassa's market (owned and run by members of the great Cosimo Matassa's family - famous Nawlinz record producer) and dropping our laundry off at 'Suds Dem Duds' ($12 for 6lb wash and fold) we head out to Sylvester's. This is the coolest cowboy shop I've been in, there's some great stuff but nothing bought in case there's better at the next store (BIG mistake!).

Onward over the Mississippi to Cavender's, the biggest western gear store in Louisiana where the range was dreadful and the service a disgrace...no western gear for Don L this trip!

We drive around Algiers and stop for a pleasant lunch at the Dry dock Cafe,

then head up funky Magazine Street for a look. Coffee at Amici turns into a major lowpoint - woeful coffee and woefully woeful service, and my restraint is admirable when paying the bill. Why was Don L irritated? Four lattes please with extra shots (a vain attempt to get something stronger than dishwater!) results in a bill that states $3 per coffee (already excessive) and...wait for it...$3.30 per extra shot! I impress even myself by letting it slide and post a Trip Advisor review instead!!

I've never been in Armstrong Park before (it's always been unsafe on previous trips) and so we head there for a look. It's really nice, some lovely monuments to hometown jazz heroes, and is the location of the original Congo Square, the birthplace of New Orleans music.

Allison 'Big Chief Tootie' Montana

Charles 'Buddy' Bolden monument - legendary cornet player

Satchmo and Legsy

Mahalia Jackson monument

Jazz has no racial boundaries...lock on!

Magnolia trees abound and smell...

...sublime

Across the road we pop into a converted laundromat that was once J&M Studios, where from 1947-1956 Matassa produced the records of Fats Domino, Professor Longhair and Little Richard, to name but a few. A back seat brawl erupted between JJ and Rusty as to the authenticity of the location, JJ insisting correctly we had found the appropriate establishment and thus assuming bragging rights.

Tonight we're going to see Dragon Smoke at One Eyed Jack's. DS is a local 'supergroup' featuring Ivan Neville, Eric Lindell, Robert Mercurio and Stanton Moore that has for the last 14 years played this one-off gig. They eventually come on 2 1/2 hours late and only after a DJ has bludgeoned and pounded us into submission. DS sound great, but we've lost the appetite for it and retire after 20 minutes, making a mental note of the venue's punctuality slackness.

Wednesday and Don L heads off to the National World War II Museum. It proudly boasts its Trip Advisor ratings - #1 attraction in New Orleans, #4 museum in the U.S. and the #11 museum in the world. Reality is that it may hold #1 status in Nawlinz, but the other two ratings are from the realm of pure fantasy, there are many far better museums in the U.S. and there are at least 11 better right here in London. I think TA reviewers need to get out a bit more!

It is good, highly respectful and well run by a phalanx of service veterans; it's worth a visit, just put jingoism aside when you enter.

Found in the gift store - defies comprehension really!

Next door is the Confederate Memorial Hall Museum, a repository for memorabilia from the Civil War, and more to Don L's liking. Opened in 1891, it's the oldest operating museum in Louisiana, and gives a fascinating insight into the conflict; war is tragic beyond expression.

I jump into Cafe Du Monde for an iced coffee (nowhere near as good as WWOZ's at JazzFest) and a serve of the famous (and tasteless) beignets covered in icing sugar, then stroll back via New Orleans' rather plain Plaza de Espana, donated by the Spanish government in 1963.

We're all in need of healthy food (even something green!) and Vincent's Italian Bistro in the Garden District is on our radar. We have a great meal, the escargot and caprese salad is wonderful and refreshing, and gave a lesson in etiquette to the sombrero hombre sitting at the table adjacent ("I only take my hat off if someone insists I do, because I'm bald". We insisted!!). before we catch a St. Charles tram back, ready to storm the JazzFest barricades tomorrow.