New Orleans, Where a Parking Violation is Cheaper Than Paying for Parking!

A much warmer night, with no sign of rain when we woke up. A quick check of the weather showed that the rain we had expected had got delayed somewhere, and wasn’t expected to arrive before 18:00.

We decided to head out to the French Quarter in New Orleans, and then take a river cruise on the Mighty Mississippi.

It was about a 30 minute drive into the city, and I must admit first impressions were not that great! Even on a Sunday morning it was busy, the streets were very narrow and in disrepair and the place just didn’t “look” friendly.

With the aid of the GPS we made it into the French Quarter, the next problem was parking. All street parking was taken, so we found a parking lot, we figured we’d need at least 6 hours, they figured we’d pay at least $60. We tried a few more lots, but there seems to be price fixing in effect. We found a space on the street that nobody seemed to be stopping at so we grabbed it. There was a sign saying something about bus parking, but there were no buses in sight so we decided to risk it!

New Orleans was founded by a guy from Quebec back in the 1700’s so there is a fair bit of French influence in the old part of town. I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

Balconies Everywhere

Horse Drawn Carriages and St. Louis Cathedral

Lost in Time

Music Everywhere and…… Anywhere

Ornate Copperwork over Entrance

When we started walking we saw a restaurant that looked as though it would a good place have lunch at, but as we were walking around the back streets we saw this bar which looked far more interesting. We had a great meal of local offerings.

Fire Truck Getting Ready for Mardi GrasMore Horse Carriages

We took a river cruise along the Mississippi which stopped at some obscure battlefield. The battlefield was pretty much just a field, but the trip was good. The paddle on the back was the only means of propulsion, no hidden propellers!The trip was remarkably smooth compared with conventional boats. Unfortunately the return trip was made in thick fog so there  was nothing to see.

A Happy Camper

Back at the truck we found a nice present from one of the local bylaw officers, a parking ticket! The good news is, the ticket will only cost $20 vs $60+ in a parking lot…. go figure

Tomorrow may be a stay at home day as there is rain and thunderstorms in the forecast