Staying Dry in the Big Easy

Nawrlins! Home of jazz, Cajuns, gumbo and the French Quarter. We took a tour of the city and in particular the Lower Ninth Ward, the area devastated by flooding in 2005.



The bus first took us by the Katrina Memorial (the pylons mark the various levels of the water)












before heading to "ground zero", the levee that gave way letting all hell break loose. The concrete wall looks pretty inoculous today but the devastation caused by the flood is still visible.










The tour took us by homes that were destroyed beyond repair,




















homes that were salvaged but not yet occupied,













and new homes that have been erected by agencies such as habitat for Humanity, and celebrities like Brad Pitt.

Fats Domino is a long time resident of the Ninth Ward. He refused to leave his home when the flooding started and evetually had to be pulled from the roof of his house by a helicopter. He has not yet returned to his home but plans to do so in the near future.









After leaving the Ninth Ward, we headed to the Garden District. Surprisingly, areas close to the Mississippi River escaped the flooding. These included the Garden District and the French Quarter. These areas are built on the natural levee of the Mississippi River hence are on higher ground than the remainder of New Orleans, which is built in a bowl that is below sea level. The boat on the roof of the house in this picture was built there and did not float there during the flood!




While in the Garden District we passed the childhood home of Peyton and Eli Manning. Their parents still live there today.











Of course, no trip to Louisianna is complete without a trip to a bayou! The weather added to the overall atmosphere - overcast and raining. The trip started with a brief jaunt down the West Pearl River to a typical fishing village. Most of these villages are accessible by water only.

This boat trawls for shrimp.

Many of the homes in the fishing villages did not survive the storm surge associated with Katrina and were washed away in the flood waters. The home in this picture did survive, but the water level reached two feet above the patio!

All along the river evidence of the flood can still be seen, like this shed resting on the bank of the river.

Travelling back up river, we headed into the bayou and bumped our way through very shallow waters, sometimes hitting tree stumps as we moved along.

The bayou has lots of wildlife. We saw a blue heron, owl, nutria rodents, an egret and a hawk, but no alligator! It's hibernation season for them!

Those who wanted to see an alligator were not to be disappointed! Capt Mike had a baby alligator back at the office for days when none were visible in the wild.

(I expected it to be much bigger than what it was!)

Of course, Jim had to get up close and personal with the alligator. He was careful to hold it properly because, despite it's size, Capt Mike says it's nip hurts big time!

In addition to the bus tour, we took time to walk around the French Quarter on our own and took in the sights, including Pirate's Alley, St Louis Cathedral, and Jackson Square.

and listened to the calliope music from atop the SS Natchez

On Friday we ventured into downtown Slidell and found a Louisianna version of Silver Heights. We had supper, a few wets and danced to live music provided by a band called Monster Crawdads and a good time was had by all!

Saturday morning dawned bright with no hint of rain but it was time to move on. We packed everything up and travelled a little further east to the Mississippi Gulf Coast region and the town of Bay St Louis. It's here that we will spend the holidays. We spent today cleaning and decorating the RV. With Christmas only five days away, Jim and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.