Shoot Out on Canal Street

Wow, it was one exciting evening - walking down Bourbon Street on a Saturday night, with the festival going on. It was noisy, crowded and could be dangerous. So we decided to visit the blues and jazz pubs tomorrow night. Luckily we did. We had dinner in a small cafe near our hotel on Canal Street, then after dinner, we usually turn left to go back to the hotel. We turned right instead, and we heard about 10 gunshots. If Adrian had his way, he would have gone to the scene, but we went into a souvenir shop instead to hang around. The shopkeeper (from Hyderabad incidentally) said yeah it happens. Anyway, we left the shop and heard all the sirens - 15 police cars and 4 ambulances. Turns out there was a shooting at McDonalds which we had passed before dinner. There were about 3 people injured but I think none dead. We went to the scene, because the cops were already in place and there was no more action except for them taking the injured away. So exciting!

More from the Big Easy

Thibodeaux, Fontaineaux, the place is buzzin' Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen, Dressed in style, they go hogwild, me-o-my-o Son of a gun, they have big fun on the Bayou
Well, it's all true. We spent the evening at the French Quarter Festival, where 3 large pavilions displayed the talents of a blues band and two jazz bands. People of all ages, colours, sizes, just enjoyed the music and danced. Inhibited and free.

Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, Fillet Gumbo -
Well I tried the first two - Jambalaya tastes like fried rice; Crawfish Pie is like our curry puff but sweeter; still on the hunt for Fillet Gumbo. They had chicken gumbo instead. Nah.

Big Wheels Keep On Turnin' ... such a memorable sight, a steamboat on the Mississippi.

The Kids have it in their DNA

Son of a Gun, he had big fun on the Bayou

These 2 had hot words after this; that was so funny.

Crawfish Pie was like a curry puff; but sweeter

I had my Jambalaya!

N'Orlins

Happy People

Bourbon Street - Super Jazz just like that; on the corner; never mind the occasional car that drives past. Everyone around is dancing. They collect money later in that brown cardboard box.

New Orleans from the air - The Superdome is clearly seen. We passed it but thought better of asking the cab driver about the floods.

After 27 long hours on the road/in the air, we arrived in New Orleans at 7.00 pm the same day we left! That's a bitch of a flight. It's a fascinating city, though it's vastly different in terms of Tulsa politeness. Temperature is lovely - 22 deg and windy in the day and about 16 at night and windy too. Our room at the Sheraton has a view of the mighty Mississippi which I've only ever read about in all my slavery books. We stopped over in Atlanta, Georgia, home to Savannah, of Rhett and Scarlet fame. We then had to rush over to our gate for the New Orleans flight, and had like 10 mins to spare. As Atlanta was our first stop on U.S. soil, we had to clear our luggage, do immigration then re-check our luggage. After a mad rush to the gate, we found out that our flight was delayed for an hour. I went to the convention centre today to meet Boss and my Chinese team participating in the geology competition, while Adrian quaffed a couple of beers at the French Quarter festival. We will go again tonight. Apart from 2 nights of evening functions, my other evenings are free. I've only been able to upload these 3 photos; I had trouble uploading the others. Will keep trying.