We arrived in New Orleans from Navarre Beach in the late afternoon, and checked into the lovely Hotel St Marie where we had a not so lovely view. That didn’t matter as we headed straight out to explore the French Quarter. After walking through various streets and shops we went to the super famous Cafe Du Monde which has been in operation since 1862. They specialise in one thing we had heard so much about – beignets!

We then walked down Bourbon Street and stopped in at the Funky Pirate for a drink and to relax under the air-con before walking to Canal street where we saw a live band in the street. My first impressions were that the city was quite a lot like Northbridge in Perth being a bit dirty, noisy with some dodgy folks around but I could tell there was a lot of history and culture throughout the city. The architecture is also stunning and like nowhere else I had seen in the USA.