New Orleans in 1.5 days...

Some said "do not bother going to New Orleans it is still devastated"...some said "go to New Orleans it will help rebuild their economy", another said "the bars are all still OK"....Well I'm glad we went as we had an absolute blast whilst there!!

We stayed at an amazing campsite, only two years old with a gym, pool, office with computers and fax machines, and the most amazing bathrooms ever! On top of all this relative luxury for us, the staff took us to the edge of the French Quarter when we wanted to go out (in their golf buggy), and picked us back up (in whatever state, at whatever time) when we'd had enough.

The French Quarter, looks like the name suggests, it could easily be mistaken for Paris, lots of the buildings have ornate iron balcony railings from which gorgeous hanging baskets are displayed, and a peek through their many gates show little courtyards through the back. There are about a million bars and restaurants, you can find anything to suit your taste buds or budget there! We opted for the tackiest cocktails which came in a souvenier plastic bright green "hand grenades", and although there are written warnings about how they may not "taste" alcoholic....well I am sure everyone who knows us will know how much notice we took of the warnings!!!

We met some really fabulous people there and although Mardis Gras was already over when we got there, the vibe is great and we managed to score some Mardis Gras beads from an old veteran which are now gayly decorating the RV.

The next day, and with the biggest hangover of all time following us, we headed downtown to the river and walked along the park which has lots of interesting arty stuff and took in the sights. The business quarter is SO posh, we walked around the corner and left the ratty but friendly vibe of the french quarter, right into people in suits having business lunches, marble staricases and tall modern buildings!! America is so like that all the time, everything is defined as one thing or another and there you have it.

This is not to say that the evidence of Katrina, now 3 years ago can not be seen. When we drove in through the suburbs it was horrible to see lots of wrecked and abandoned houses, some obviously still lived in but with tarpaulines for a roof. This area was obviously badly effected and even the houses which seemed to have survived any serious damage, were uncared for and dilapidated. Of course these poorer areas, referred to as the "slums" would need millions and millions of dollars spent to regain a semblance of normality.

On the bright side though, many brand new houses are being built, more inland to try to avoid a reoccurence of this disaster, and we heard that some of the people from these areas are being re-settled into these new homes which is good.

Unfortunately not all of the residents have had luck in finding an investor and when we left New Orleans through the North side we saw hundreds of homeless people in tents under a highway fly over. That was very sad and it seems that there is no way out for these poor people, some who once had a house and job, unable to go to work following the disaster and consequently losing their jobs, not to mention the businesses which could not afford to keep going in such circumstances. We heard from a lady in one of the kiosks that lots of people are still battling their insurance companies and she herself was still waiting to get her home fixed. What was more upsetting was to hear first hand that people were stuck on their own roof for 5 days before anyone came to help them, needless to say Bush's name is mud down here, which is understandable.

In short, we thought New Orleans was, in all, great fun and we would recommend anyone to go and see it for themselves as only when you're in the heart of it, can you see why the people want to rebuild their lives here.