My US adventure, part 2

Here is the second and last part of my US adventure where I will tell you about our trip to Louisiana, and more especially New Orleans. As I said in the first part, I have always been interested in visiting the US but at the same time I always thought I would do a big trip first in places like South America. This trip just happened because of a good flight ticket price and an unmissable opportunity in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it! I was also super excited about it, I just didn’t expect my first long flight outside of Europe would be to go to Fort Lauderdale (no offense). What truly excited me though, was the opportunity we got to enjoy New Orleans at the same time during this trip. Maybe it was because of its French culture, maybe because of Marie Lavaux and the voodoo vibe, or maybe just the incredible reputation (probably all of that combined), I was so happy to discover!

Another thing that really intrigued me about the country was the food. American food (especially fast-food) is very well-known and as a French (and European), I was curious about the size and how my body would react to it. Also, I am a food lover and always interested in a good Mcdonalds, and being able to fly to the land of so many unknown fast-foods was something very exciting. I was going there, expecting to come back with 3kgs and a craving for veggies.

Culture of New Orleans, between tradition and surprises

The first day, we discovered there was a Saint Patrick parade not too far and decided to join. We just missed the famous Mardi Gras and were happy to be able to actually see a parade, even though it was a different event. I have to say I have very mixed feelings about this event and it makes me wonder if I would have had fun at Mardi Gras. What I definitely liked is the whole vibe, beautiful chars, people invested and clearly here for a good time. It was an incredible experience to live, we got tons of goodies and got to talk with locals. Now, I can probably say what I disliked about it. I am already sorry for the locals, I know it is part of the culture and the tradition but as an outside person, this was not to my liking. I quickly understood that there were only men on the parade, with tons of plastic necklaces like you can imagine. Some men would come to you and give a necklace, and in exchange you have to kiss them. You can imagine my surprise when a 70 year-old man came to me with a necklace and tried to kiss me! My first reaction was hell no Sir, did you hear about consent? We were next to two girls born and raised here, and they got to explain to me what’s going on. Basically, you have to attract men’s attention in order to get goodies, and you have to kiss them if they do choose you to say thank you. That did not make me feel good to know that. You quickly sense that there is a weird competition between women to prove which one will get the more necklaces and be the most attractive. Also, I noticed a lot of young girls (between 15 and 17 maybe?) being the center of the male’s attention (knowing that most of those guys were at least more than 35 years old I’d say). On top of that, the other really bad part of it was the waste. My god, how sad it is when the parade is over. First of all, the goodies you receive are only plastic trash. I could see everyone just using it and throwing it directly on the floor. After the show, the streets are filled with plastic and any type of waste (cups, bottles, food…). Everything was flying everywhere and you could see the disastrous impact of a few hours. I don’t even want to imagine what Mardi Gras does to this city (and this planet). One thing that I already noticed was the waste that you can see in the country. You realize that in Europe we are actually trying to reduce waste and it almost seems sad to see that it’s useless compared to this huge country where everything is thrown away outside and you eat with plastic cutlery everywhere.

Another traditional part of the city we were interested to explore was the famous Bourbon Street. That is the next thing we decided to do after the parade. One could say it was a unique experience. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, I just heard that it was the center for Spring Break action and the most touristy place in the whole city. The first time we went there was on a Saturday afternoon, and it was definitely overwhelming. You arrive in a street so full you can’t see your feet, every place is putting music to attract tourists with huge cocktails, big dance floors and other things. There’s also buskers and many other attractions directly in the street (I have seen too many parrots and snakes in this street). What is the most unique is the crowd. As I said before, it was around Spring Break when we were there. You could definitely see that people were here to celebrate. Even on a Saturday at 6pm, you already had to mind your steps so not to walk in vomit or pee. A unique experience as I said. We quickly understood the vibe was not really what we were looking for and we decided to step back from it and go to a local restaurant not too far to try one of the city’s specialties : the Po’ boy. After struggling to get in (you always have to show ID to prove you’re more than 21 if you enter a place that serves alcohol, I only had my passport with me and they would refuse my driving license), we enjoyed this sandwich with an unsweetened iced tea. What I really liked there is that they serve huge drinks of this iced tea and they serve you as much as you want for free.

Discoveries of the city

On our second day, we decided to discover the city and started with a huge brunch at Elizabeth’s, a trendy brunch place. That is definitely one of the best food experiences we had in the country. We had the whole local vibe, you could see that this place is absolutely loved by people there. I wanted to have a full immersion experience and I got it. We had the biscuits (not a fan), huge portions of food that was very rich but absolutely amazing. I personally chose Elizabeth's eggs: two big eggs benedict with a delicious sauce, served with crispy bacon, on huge toast with some homemade potatoes. My boyfriend chose something even more decadent which was a french toast burrito (I’ll let your imagination work with that). After this incredible meal, we decided to walk for the rest of the day to digest and discover the city wonders. We headed down to Marché français and Café du monde, two very iconic places. Another thing you have to try while visiting New Orleans, is the beignets. I knew it was a very typical thing to do but was not particularly excited to try because it seems very similar to what my grandma would cook. Still, we decided to try and I have to say that was exactly what I expected. Not bad, even good, but nothing new to me. Another great surprise during this day was our ferry trip to Algiers Point. We were walking around and discovered that every 30 minutes this ferry would bring you to the other side of the Mississippi and decided to hop on. We arrived in Algiers Point, where it seemed like nothing much was happening. We walked around and discovered another side of the city. You could find gorgeous houses in a creole style, a beautiful neighborhood and a peaceful vibe. I have to say this was a highlight for me because no one hears about this and I really felt like a local, walking around there. We ended this day by a jazz club night. That is another big part of the city that I think is definitely worth living. We decided to join the Spotted Cat Music Club based on good reviews. My taste and knowledge in this music is close to nothing, and I had such a great time! The whole vibe was unbeatable, this was definitely a core memory of the trip.

Heavy history and rich culture

What we couldn’t miss while visiting Louisiana was to get to learn about the state in itself and its history. We decided to book a few guided tours to get around and discover more. We chose one tour about the plantations and one about the swamp. For the first one, you have to be ready to face the awful truth of slavery. That is something that you definitely need to see but it is hard. We visited a few of the famous plantations (Whitney), and got to discover how life was for them there and the consequences. What shocked me the most is how recent all of this is. We learned that even though slavery was already prohibited, a lot of old slaves stayed for a very long time on the plantations because of debt and no ways to leave. You have to imagine the countryside, with one main road. Without a car, there was no way to leave this place. I absolutely loved this tour because it is something I didn’t know enough about and it allowed me to open my eyes on this period of time and realize the importance of it, still nowadays. The swamp tour was definitely another vibe. After seeing alligators in Florida, we were still interested in seeing some in Louisiana. On the way there, we had a great tour guide which would tell us about things on the way. We got to see some of Katrina’s consequences, still today. Something that was really incredible to see is that the whole way there was on bridges. We were literally in the middle of the water all the time, on those endless bridges. For people who don’t like water (just like me), that could feel a bit weird. The boat tour was lovely and allowed us to see alligators, raccoons (big highlight), birds, boars, snakes… while learning about the wildlife with a local Louisiana tour guide (and proud alligator hunter). We finished our New Orleans trip with a big part of the US culture: a NBA game! We had the opportunity to see the Pelicans against the Lakers and decided to go for it. It was exactly like I imagined, an amazing show in a huge stadium, where I got to see Lebron James and leave with a happy memory.

The end of an unforgettable trip

It has been an incredible experience overall. We had the chance to discover a lot of different sides of the country in one trip. We had the opportunity to see two major theme parks and its magic. We also discovered a historical and cultural city for a few days which I am most grateful about. We ended the trip with a real American vibe in Miami and got to see iconic places that I could only dream of. Even though some parts were less to my liking, I can say I am very happy with the trip and I regret absolutely nothing of it. I would even love the opportunity to go back and discover another part. This might sound cliché but discovering the East Coast with New York or the West one with San Francisco and Los Angeles would definitely be my priorities there. You are from the US and have any other recommendations of something way less obvious? Please I would love to know!