NOLA-LA LAND
All thanks to my cousin Shwetha’s exhaustive search for a perfect itinerary that fit three girls alone in New Orleans. Safe, satiating our culture urges, and planned to the T! Visit the art market at the Frenchman’s Street that has eclectic jewellery designers, poster artists and painters — they make for great momentos. Or visit the many boutiques that dot the area... The air is ringing with musical strains and friendly folk who are proud of the city’s rich and vibrant character.
We stopped for a late lunch at Napolean House (which was intended as the residence of Napolean Bonaparte... who died before he could reach here). It has been turned into a restaurant where they serve a mean Gumbo, and a delicious muffulata (stuffed with olive salad, mortadella, salami, mozzarella, ham and provolone). It was created in 1906 by Salvatore Lupo, the owner of Central Grocery Co. in Nola. Delicious. Old books, letters, maps, object d’art are strewn across this bustling cafe that also has a quaint courtyard in case you want to experience the humid and hot September weather! We also had the famed Pimm’s Cup, a cocktail. Incidentally, the word cocktail is of Nola origin, we heard that thanks to a Bengaluru Frenchman who is a storehouse of culinary knowledge. Legend has it that an egg-cup or coquetier was mispronounced as cocktail and it stuck — A New Orleans apothecary Antoine Amédée Peychaud used to serve brandy mixed with his bitters in eggcups in the late 18th century!
On our last day, we treated ourselves to a hearty breakfast at the Ruby Slipper, which serves only breakfast, shuts by lunch, and see long lines of people waiting their turn. You’d be well-advised to go there early, get your name on the wait list, download their app, and then go sightseeing or knick-knack picking to the many praline shops around for toffee and candy... or Mardi Gras-inspired outfits. We did just that, and an hour-and-ahalf later, we had our table and ordered a sumptuous Southern breakfast fit for a Queen... eggs benedicts on a southern biscuit, or gravy, loaded with meat, cheese, and sweet potato and pumpkin pancakes... Phew! On a meal-induced stupour, we headed to the New Orleans Botanical Gardens at City Park, where we spent an idyllic afternoon walking through its green expanse, taking in the works of Mexicanborn artist and sculptor Enrique Alferez. We stopped for a longer while at the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden which had the most emotive and creative installations. We also peeked into the Conservatory of the Two Sisters which had an exhibit on living fossils showing many types of prehistoric plant life, fossilised foliage, etc, and then browsed through a vegetable garden that had — wait for it — purple okra which we marvelled at, till we heard the whistle of a train. Next door, was a Train Garden, miniature trains running on a track dotted along the layout of the City of New Orleans. It follows the course of the Mississippi River. Manned by an able crew who control traffic, we had an interesting chat with the caretaker there.
Our rendezvous with Nola could not have been complete if we had not hopped onto a dinner cruise on the Natchez — through history these steamboats have raced along the muddy river... all called Natchez. The Natchez IX (and there were many) featured a steam calliope that can play 32 notes. The thrill of watching a huge steamboat regurgitate water was amazing, and so were the loud shrill whistles as it passed the city’s sights and lights... The obvious pride of its crew as they went about their smooth functioning was apparent. It had rained that day... so it was a relief from the humidity. A band played soulful jazz as we tucked into a meal of Louisiana favourites — gumbo, pork roast, beef roast, bread pudding, etc. New Orleans was much more than we had imagined, and there is still so much more to unearth. For now though, the strains of NOLA, and its rich cultural landscape has three girls in ‘NOLA’ LA land, with wide smiles on their faces.
We stopped for a long time at the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden which had the most emotive and creative installations