Saturday 24 May – A cycle tour around the French Quarter (and beyond)

We don't have time for breakfast today – breakfast in the hostel doesn't start until 9 am, and we need to be at the cycle tour place, in the French Quarter, by 9.30 am. We take the street car (trolley bus), and with fast walking, we arrive at our destination on time.

These bikes are alien to me – the brakes work by back-pedalling, and I don't feel confident with this. The rest of the group, who are Americans, seem fine with it, so it must be a common type of bike brakes in this country. Reg thinks he'll be ok with it, but he knows me well, and asks the tour guide if there's a bike without back-pedal brakes that I can use. The tour guide produces a slightly smaller bike, but the saddle can be raised, and it's perfect for me.

I'm surprised that bikes seem to have as much right to be ridden in the centre of the (right hand side) of the road as cars. On odd occasions our guide tells us to cycle in single file, but not often! Cars creep behind us at a snail's pace, but there don't seem to be any impatient drivers. Our young guide has lived in New Orleans, near the French quarter, all his life, and not only does he have an excellent knowledge of the history of New Orleans, he has a lovely sunny personality, and is happy to answer our questions along the way.

For those interested, here is a resumé of some of the things we learnt about New Orleans French Quarter and the surrounding area:

• New Orlean's French Quarter borders on to the Mississippi river. Many people have drowned in the river's strong currents.
• New Orleans has the longest dock in the USA – 2 miles long. Even the biggest container ships can dock there.
• 2 fires ripped through the French quarter in times gone by (most buildings were of wood in those days) which meant that a lot of this area has been reconstructed. Originally under French influence, New Orleans was later ruled by the Spanish for about 40 years, when much of the French Quarter was rebuilt. Thus the balconies full of flowers are of Spanish origin, not French.
• At the centre of the French Quarter is Jackson Square, named after Andrew Jackson, who defeated the British during the battle of New Orleans in 1815. In years gone by it was used for public executions. It's the most visited square in the USA. Dominating the square is St Louis cathedral, which was completely rebuilt by the Spanish in the 1850's. It gained the title “basillica” after Pope John Paul visited it in 1987.
• The most famous cafe on the square is the Cafe du Monde. We see people queuing up to be seated in this cafe, famous for beignées, a donut type pastry covered in icing sugar, a delicacy in this area (Reg and I tried some, not from the Cafe du Monde, but they were nice!)
• The Ursuline Convent is the oldest French colonial building in Louisiana. The nuns who lived there established the first hospital and first school in the region, and came to be very respected by the local population.
• New Orleans, and especially the French Quarter, is famous for it's jazz. Louis Armstrong first started to play here.
• At weddings and funerals, it's a tradition that the “second line” following the family should be a jazz band.
• New Orleans is often called the “gumbo” city – because of the melée of different peoples who live here- called “creoles”.
• America bought Louisiana in 1803 for $15 million – cheap at the price. It was called “The Louisiana Purchase.”
• In the French Quarter, there's a bar called “The John” - where each bar stool has its own toilet; and one called “The Barber”, where you can have a shot and a haircut at the same time
• The French Quarter suffered from the winds of Hurricane Katrina (roofs blown off, etc,) but not from the flooding which affected so many other areas, and led to the drowning of so many people
• The French Quarter of Louisiana is a flood plain, but the water has been diverted elsewhere. However, the ground remains extremely soft, which has led to cracking of pavements and roads and subsidence in buildings – but the local residents tend to accept the cracks in their houses as a fact of life
• Charles Laveau came to New Orleans from Haiti. He and his daughter, Marie Laveau (1801(?) - 1881), were “free people of colour”. His daughter was a “voo-doo” priestess; bringing the voo-doo religion to New Orleans caused fear among the Roman Catholics who lived here – which led the voo-doo practices to be demonised and thought of as evil – which is how they are perceived today. Marie Laveau is buried in a local cemetery, and many of her “followers” visit the grave which is thought to be hers. There are many voo-doo type shops in the French Quarter, and people offering to tell your fortune using voo-doo practices.
• We are shown the building in the French Quarter where a woman called Madame Lalaurie (1775 - 1842) tortured slaves in her attic – and reputedly threw someone out of a top floor window to her death
• Lafitttes Blacksmith Shop in Bourbon Street is the longest continuous-running bar in the USA. It's still lit by candles inside.
• Tremé, near the French Quarter, is the oldest African American neighbourhood in the USA.
• Congo Square, in Louis Armstrong Park, in the Tremé district of New Orleans, is the is a place where slaves used to gather in their free time on Sunday afternoons, to sing, dance and play music. As time went on, people came from all over America to watch them.

I'm sure that there's a lot more that our excellent guide told us; we certainly learn a lot about New Orleans during our 3 hour cycle tour. At the end of it though, we are hot and tired. We eat lunch of “po-boys” (fried meat or seafood in a french baguette) – Reg has pork, I have shrimps – and “beignées” for dessert. We intended to return to the centre of the French Quarter to view the inside of St Louis Cathedral, but exhaustion takes over, and we are soon on the street car headed back to our hostel.

After a nap, we take a bottle of red wine and two bags of dirty washing to the main hostel area, where about 30 young people are chatting, drinking and keeping cool in the hostel pool. After loading up two washing machines (although I have the colour catcher sheets, it's the first time I've washed my 2 pairs of dyed purple trousers, so I'm only putting dark items with them), we cover ourselves liberally with protective mosquito spray and get chatting to the young people who are sitting near us. Later in the evening, the young people venture off to the French Quarter to sample the night life, and after transferring the washing to the dryer, I'm able to write up the blog, while Reg gets exasperated trying to upload the latest “Cycling Plus” onto his (I mean our) replacement tablet.