WE WERE GRATEFUL IT WASN'T POURING DOWN RAIN WHEN WE GOT UP THE NEXT MORNING, BUT IT LOOKED LIKE IT COULD START ANY MINUTE. WE WERE GOING ON THE WALKING TOUR THIS MORNING AT 10:30, WE BROUGHT OUR UMBRELLA "JUST IN CASE. " WE WERE TO MEET AT THE BOURBON STREET CAFE BEIGNET. WE GOT THERE IN PLENTY OF TIME!
WE WERE TO MEET AT THE MUSICIAN STATUES.
WE MET GWEN, OUR TOUR GUIDE, A VERY NICE LADY, AND SAID SOMETHING TO HER ABOUT THE RAIN......SHE SAYS, "THIS IS NAWLINS, A CATHOLIC CITY, THIS ISN'T RAIN, IT'S HOLY WATER!!" THERE WERE ONLY THREE OTHERS ON THE TOUR.
WE LEARNED A LOT ABOUT THE HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BUILDINGS. GWEN EXPLAINED THAT THESE HOMES WERE BUILT BY THE CREOLES MOSTLY. THE CREOLES WERE HERE 100 YEARS BEFORE ANYONE ELSE CAME TO NEW ORLEANS. GWEN IS A PROUD FOURTH GENERATION CREOLE WOMAN. THE WINDOWS AND DOORS OF THESE HOMES WERE DESIGNED TO CATCH A BREEZE IN THE HOT SUMMER MONTHS.
NEW ORLEANS WAS FOUNDED BY FRANCE, THEN RULED BY SPAIN AND THEN BACK TO FRANCE. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE SOLD THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY TO THE UNITED STATES FOR $15 MILLION DOLLARS, CALLED THE BEST REAL ESTATE DEAL IN HISTORY, THAT'S ABOUT FOUR CENTS AN ACRE. IT DOUBLED THE SIZE OF THE UNITED STATES.
THE CREOLES THOUGHT US AMERICANS WERE TOO FLASHY WITH OUR FANCY HOUSES AND WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH US!
THE TOUR ENDED AT JACKSON SQUARE. THE BEAUTIFUL CHURCH IS THE ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL.
AFTER WALKING FOR TWO HOURS, WE WERE TIRED AND STARVING!! WE WEREN'T SURE WHAT WE WERE HUNGRY FOR, SO WE JUST WALKED AND READ THE MENUS......THIS LITTLE RESTAURANT WAS SERVING CRAB AND CORN CHOWDER.....YUM!! THAT'S WHAT I WANTED!!
IT WAS DELICIOUS!! A CUTE LITTLE FRENCH QUARTER CAFE.
AND THEN A QUICK STOP AT CAFE DU MONDE FOR BEIGNETS TO GO!!
WE WERE COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS....NO RAIN SO FAR TODAY. IT DID RAIN THAT EVENING AND SOME DURING THE NIGHT.
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