Lundi Gras

Sunday 19^th. Lundi Gras

Cornet player in the street corner band

Father and son far to merry

The Frenchman Street corner band

RnR needed today as the energy levels are low following yesterdays partying, so I cycled into the French Quarter and people watched taking photographs and talking to people. Right next to our RV is St. Louis cemetery with all the graves raised up inside monuments because of the inevitable flooding. I got two pictures and the batteries failed on my camera, 110volts is just not enough to charge any of our equipment. 

The cemetery next to us

The Mississippi steamboat

This site was a supermarket before Katrina. Down Canal Street to the river and riverside walk in bright sunshine but a cold wind blowing. The river is fascinating with huge container ships coming and going all the time, with two traditional paddleboats for the tourists, The Natchez and The River Queen. There is also a free ferry to Algiers on the other side called The Sen. Alvin T. Tumpf! I saw a large bird bobbing about on the water which I eventually identified as a pelican which was a surprise.He took off and flew off skimming the surface just above the choppy brown water. At 3 pm I passed 4 large stages with bands pumping so at night this part of town must also be jumping. 

I refused to go on the evening expedition but Miles and Scott took the bikes into the madness that is Bourbon Street at the moment. Scott had got some great pics of the parade of the Krewe of Bachus with this years king, film star Will Farrel. As soon as the sun went down powerful lights project on to the clouds sweeping around the sky and nearby skyscrapers, and the scream of emergency vehicles on the flyover becomes more frequent.