New Orleans Jazzed me up - French Quarter Music festival

April 13-15, 2007


had this absolutely amazing holiday for a week in new Orleans.....where do i start about this city..... We had gone for the the french quarter music festival ...a music festival sponsored by the government to promote and encourage the local talent of Louisiana...and it was one hell of a expereince...french quarter is one of the most vibrant neighborhoods of new Orleans and home to the famous mardi gras in the month of February....this part of the city has European architecture with narrow alleys...huge french windows and the spirit of the city reminds me of Goa...absolutely chilled out and everyone in a holiday mood...and lots of singing, dancing, music, beer and festive spirit around you. The whole day we used to laze in the parks by the Mississippi listen to various bands playing jazz, blues and zydeco ...well for everyone who thought that i was not into music...well now i am..."new Orleans jazzed me up"....and of course beer and the amazing Cajun food....i could not get enough of the jambalaya. In the evenings we used to roam around bourbon streets and the vicinity.....well bourbon street is where the mardi gras parade passes...i have heard that participants of the parade are most exotically dressed with masks and feathers and beads...and as the parade passes the crowd cheers the participants by throwing beads...i just got a glimpse of what it wud be like during mardi gras as there were few places where there were people in the balconies throwing beads...but still want to exp the real mardi gras. First city where i saw martinis and hurricanes and beers being served To Go...yes u could just take a drink and roam the streets.... i did have one of those hurricanes...the famous drink of new Orleans and the hurricane had me in 5 minutes.... Jackson square is where all the artists converged for these three days...and absolutely amazing display of art work...its a shame we could not afford to buy even one of the pictures and could not take pictures as respect for the artists...but the cheater in me...still sneaked in to take one picture as a token of the beautiful display we saw. we also made a trip to the swamps...... though tourists are not allowed into the thick of the swamps and are restricted to the outskirts but it was just nice....however it was quite cool so did not see too many alligators... well actually saw only two. I am now convinced that every such forest reserve or these touristy rides...be it Corbett or nagerhole or periyar or new Orleans swamps....all these guides tell u that its too cool for wildlife spotting and they show u these one off things...which i think are placed by them in advance....anyways...we saw alligators, turtles, catfish and different fishes and our guide was absolutely obsessed with the various dishes that could be made out of all these creatures....so much for a protected forest reserve trip. Our enterprising taxi fellow took us around the neighborhoods which were affected by Katrina. Obviously no disaster is a nice sight and cannot be compared with another but what is common and amazing is the spirit of people to fight back...whether it is new Orleans or the tsunami hit sri lanka or tamil nadu...new Orleans is really fighting back and tourism is their biggest industry. it was overwhelming when right from the taxi driver to the pizza vendor on the street to the musician on the stage thanks you for visiting new Orleans and helping the city re build. And of course....80% of the souvenir shops are owned by Pakistanis and Indians. i got a moral lecture from one of the shopkeepers on how mardi gras is not for people from the Indian/Pakistani origin....well i went and had a hurricane right after that.

definitely enlarge the last two pictures and read the crazy t shirts that were for sale

check out our pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157600118269338/