NEW ORLEANS

I’m watching the evening fog roll in over San Francisco, we’re almost half way through our American adventure and I’ve barely had a moment to sit down, collect my thoughts and put a blogpost together. New Orleans was vibrant hot and sticky, New York took my breath away, and finally here in San Francisco I feel like I can take a moment to breathe and relax, there is something about the California pastel skies that brings a sense of calm. I’ve spent the last two weeks soaking absolutely everything in, taking pictures constantly, not wanting to miss even a second. It’s nice to cosy up in a warm bed with a beautiful view and take a moment to process what we’ve seen and experienced. How cool is it that with the internet we can share our experiences of a place with the world, and that in return people can travel to countries from the comfort of their home? These are really just my travel snaps, I always have felt the need to capture everything, but I feel very humbled that some of you enjoy looking over these personal pictures too.

So let’s start at the beginning, we arrived in New Orleans in the dead of night after 24+ hour journey, tired, jet lagged but glued to the taxi window watching the lights pass us by on the freeway. As soon as we had stepped out of the airport I was hit by a familiar wall of humidity, it was that very same feeling I had felt almost a year ago when I reached Indonesia, it sucks the air from your lungs but I love it. At our hotel I crawled into our big bed, and tried to convince my very confused body clock that it was indeed time to sleep… and then I woke up at 5am feeling wide awake. I sat on the floor beside our big window as the sun was creeping up over the horizon, we could see the river weaving it’s way through the city, it was so beautiful.

It was our very first day and I could barely contain my excitement. It was so difficult just to wait until an acceptable hour to explore the streets. New Orleans is unlike anywhere I have ever seen before. The architecture is quaint and steeped in culture and history. The buildings are vivid colours, with pretty windows and plant cluttered balconies. The modern cars parked on the street look out of place, and yet the horse drawn carts broke my heart a little. It was beauty and ugly all mixed in together and I was in love.

I spent most of my time peering into shop windows to discover the secrets within (and lots of cats!).

A apothecary museum filled with old bottles and concoctions.

The french quarter is so beautiful, even with the tourist-y vibe that is sneaking in, if you look closely you can still find moments of what it would have been years and years ago.

It only took me a few hours to adjust to the sticky weather, it is almost identical to the thick warmth of Ubud. In the morning the sun shines hot and in the afternoon the storms roll in, booming thunder and lots of lighting. The rain is torrential, not even an umbrella can save you. One afternoon we borrowed umbrellas from our hotel (we were naively hopeful these would keep us dry!) and ventured out into the streets. Our destination was the French Market which I knew had a little gluten free cafe with some delicious sandwiches. New Orleans is so gorgeous in the rain, the colours reflect in the puddles and you’re walking within a watercolour painting.

We reached the market and took refuge under the cover amongst stalls selling fresh fruit and hand made trinkets.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the lightning dance across the sky from our hotel window.

We ate dinner at a little diner where the staff were hilariously brash and would yell at customers who came through the door without waiting in line!

Warmed by the sun and watching the storm.

We caught a bus into the New Orleans suburbs to visit an art market, the air was filled with bugs humming and it was fascinating to see how different their suburban life is to ours. The houses are adorable! Almost all of them are two stories and painted in pretty pastel colours.

Hot chips for lunch from a vegan stall that had the yummiest mayonnaise!

and we caught the street car back to our hotel, window watching as we passed houses, parks and universities.

At night New Orleans comes to life with people! It’s so crazy busy, we had to see Bourbon street which is like their red light district. Clubs, Bars and Strip clubs line the streets while hordes of people shuffle through. It was interesting to see, but I much preferred the quieter streets with jazz bars and local diners.

Towards the end of our stay in New Orleans we discovered Frenchmen Street. A little oasis just past the French Quarter, undisturbed by tourist influence and with a really wonderful bohemian vibe. The street is full of jazz bars and cute little houses. We wandered the streets at sunset and I wanted to photograph every house we passed.

We explored the art market after having dinner at a jazz bar.

Street-side jazz band.

A little diner where it was about 100 degrees! but we loved every moment.

I made a friend on the street who asked me to take his picture! Everyone was so welcoming and friendly.

Getting lost within a vintage store where I wanted absolutely everything. America has amazing vintage pieces.

And then almost too soon it was time to leave. I am always sad to leave a new city because I have no idea when we will see each other again. I know I really want to come back to New Orleans, hopefully next time driving across the south of America. But our next stop was New York, and the idea of seeing a city I had dreamed of visiting since I was a little gir, meant that packing my bag and saying goodbye just that little bit easier.