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This afternoon Taylor and her grandmother ("Granny") took me to the French Quarter of New Orleans!
On our drive there we passed an odd collection of what appeared to be small stone buildings. "Do you know what that is?" asked Granny. "No," I replied. "That's a Louisiana cemetery," she explained. "They have to put the tombs above ground in case of flooding." New Orleans is a city below sea-level that is constantly threatened by the possibility of floods. "Yeah, so you don't get floaters...dead floating bodies," added Taylor's brother. This visual image was enough to make me quite thankful for above ground tombs!
Taylor and I got out of the car to look around the old cemetery. We suddenly saw all these men in orange jackets running toward a specific tomb. There was some sort of security alert. Taylor and I followed the men and then snuck up behind to see what they were looking at. One of the tombs had been broken into and robbed! You could see straight inside the tomb!
The French Quarter was everything that I had imagined it to be. Narrow streets of old French-style apartment buildings... balconies that house potted plants whose leaves drape down the front of store buildings...little cafes that overlook the Mississippi river... large oak trees... live jazz music ... palm readers and vendors in the street... and open air markets. Taylor and I walked up and down the streets and occasionally went into a shop. I kept imagining I was back in time...like the Mark Twain era... what would the French Quarter have looked like then?
We stopped and watched a live jazz band and I got my palm read. The palm reader lady was very serious about her business (as most palm readers tend to be)...she was relatively accurate...but the things she said were very general and could apply to most anyone. She even offered to channel a dead relative for me!...but that was additional money so I passed on the offer...haha.
We met Taylor's boyfriend for a snack at one of the cafes. I had a bignette for the first time! A bignette is a dough-like pastry with lots of powered sugar on top. It is a typical dessert product in New Orleans/Louisiana...but is not common food any other place in the U.S. It was delicious...but very filling!
When it started to become dusk, we met Granny by the park and went to visit their family friend who lives in one of the large apartments in the French Quarter. We walked up a narrow staircase and then entered their friend's nicely furnished house. It is a beautiful apartment! His name is Alan and beyond being a business man he also runs a nature preserve in Costa Rica where he lives part-time. We were able to go out on his balcony and look down at the main street of the French Quarter!
Sincerely,
Jessica Rimington
On our drive there we passed an odd collection of what appeared to be small stone buildings. "Do you know what that is?" asked Granny. "No," I replied. "That's a Louisiana cemetery," she explained. "They have to put the tombs above ground in case of flooding." New Orleans is a city below sea-level that is constantly threatened by the possibility of floods. "Yeah, so you don't get floaters...dead floating bodies," added Taylor's brother. This visual image was enough to make me quite thankful for above ground tombs!
Taylor and I got out of the car to look around the old cemetery. We suddenly saw all these men in orange jackets running toward a specific tomb. There was some sort of security alert. Taylor and I followed the men and then snuck up behind to see what they were looking at. One of the tombs had been broken into and robbed! You could see straight inside the tomb!
The French Quarter was everything that I had imagined it to be. Narrow streets of old French-style apartment buildings... balconies that house potted plants whose leaves drape down the front of store buildings...little cafes that overlook the Mississippi river... large oak trees... live jazz music ... palm readers and vendors in the street... and open air markets. Taylor and I walked up and down the streets and occasionally went into a shop. I kept imagining I was back in time...like the Mark Twain era... what would the French Quarter have looked like then?
We stopped and watched a live jazz band and I got my palm read. The palm reader lady was very serious about her business (as most palm readers tend to be)...she was relatively accurate...but the things she said were very general and could apply to most anyone. She even offered to channel a dead relative for me!...but that was additional money so I passed on the offer...haha.
We met Taylor's boyfriend for a snack at one of the cafes. I had a bignette for the first time! A bignette is a dough-like pastry with lots of powered sugar on top. It is a typical dessert product in New Orleans/Louisiana...but is not common food any other place in the U.S. It was delicious...but very filling!
When it started to become dusk, we met Granny by the park and went to visit their family friend who lives in one of the large apartments in the French Quarter. We walked up a narrow staircase and then entered their friend's nicely furnished house. It is a beautiful apartment! His name is Alan and beyond being a business man he also runs a nature preserve in Costa Rica where he lives part-time. We were able to go out on his balcony and look down at the main street of the French Quarter!
Sincerely,
Jessica Rimington
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