First it was once again Minnesota, this time Rochester, the seat of the famous Mayo Clinic, where my dear friends Patty and Les worked and lived most of their careers (both physicians), and where they have now moved in to a new flat where they spend little time, since they are mainly in Europe.
Those who have visited my former London flat may remember the copper mirror that hung in the entrance hall, which I made many years ago. When I left I unscrewed the copper 'roses' and now I remade it for Patty and Les and their new flat. I am pleased with how it turned out.
Minnesota, and particularly Minneapolis, just down the road from Rochester, has featured on the news recently, with Trump's crack down on immigration and the legitimate and lawful demonstrations. We did not see any signs of this, but just the knowledge of recent and ongoing events made us happy to move on to the second part of the Journey:
our thoroughly indulgent, peaceful and joyful trip to New Orleans which was limbering up towards Mardi Gras, and putting up the carnival colours on their ravishing balconies: I had forgotten how stunningly beautiful the city is...
Columba Stewart, my old friend and (now former) Benedictine monk (to the right below) with whom I have had so many adventures in Mali met up with us for four days of eating, drinking and music:
Here at the famous old Galatoire's on Bourbon Street where there is a dresscode: jackets for the men. It is a haven for traditional Creole Cuisine is at its best: above we sample the Shrimp Etoufee, and below Souffle Potatoes with Bearnais sauce to start..
Galatoires is a haven, as I said, on Bourbon Street, the centre of the French Quarter, not only because of the divine food, but also because it offers an escape from the otherwise noisy and overwhelmingly commercial street outside, where gaudy bars and sleazy dives are competing loudly for the custom of inebriated tourists...
However, there IS also good music in one or two Jazz bars: here is The Bourbon Street Quartet playing Dixie and other New Orleans sounds at Fritzel's Jazz Club:
But my New Orleans friends Ed and Jaye, below, with whom I have spent two wonderful New Orleans Jazz Fests a long time ago, do their best to avoid Bourbon Street altogether (most of the rest of the city is so stunning anyway)
There is another culinary New Orleans experience one has to have: the Beignets at the Cafe du Monde on Jackson Square:
And the other thing one has to try in New Orleans is of course the Bloody Marys, which are always drunk in the morning. We found a cafe in the sun on Royal Street called the Vampire, to which we returned:
The Vampire theme for New Orleans was not, apparently, started by the novels of Anne Rice, but they drew on older legends of the city...
All in all, we could not have hoped for a better time, New Orleans was a pure delight, and remains my favourite city of the United States.
Back in Siena now, where it is chilly and windy but sunny today, a climate in fact not so different from New Orleans!
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