Louisiana - New Orleans

Jackson Square

Being built on a swamp has not dampened the spirit of New Orleans, Louisiana’s jazzy major city, known fondly as ‘the Big Easy’ for its laid-back lifestyle. New Orleans holds the title of America’s party capital: the city where anything is an excuse for a celebration. It all culminates in the annual Mardi Gras, a bawdy romp centred around an extravagant street parade where just about anything goes.

Back in 1718 Jean Baptiste Le Moyne picked a strategic spot on the Mississippi River as the centre of the French colony of Louisiana and to control river traffic, undaunted by the fact that the location was surrounded by marshland, swamps, a lake and the river. The city decided to swim rather than sink, surviving for 300 years through various colonial eras and the rigours of the Civil War to emerge with a unique culture and architectural style all of its own: not quite European, not quite American and African, and vaguely Caribbean.

New Orleans is a seductive city, which is why there is a large group of citizens who arrived as tourists, and decided to stay. The shabby but atmospheric French Quarter with its lacy wrought-iron balconies hanging over streets echoing with the strains of jazz and blues rhythms never sleeps, and in the heart of it all legendary Bourbon Street boasts a carnival atmosphere every day of the year.

Besides all the partying, New Orleans has plenty of serious sightseeing to offer. The city is full of picturesque historic buildings, lush parks, interesting museums displaying everything from voodoo culture to modern technology, riverboats and of course jazz cafes.

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