New Orleans

Allright!! The rain is gone and the sun has come out, time to make our way to the heart of New Orleans!
We hung out at the park this morning to watch an Imax video - Hurricane on the Bayou.  It's about the effects of Hurricane Katrina on not just the people, but also the wetlands....
Just driving around the city, there are buildings and homes that were either patched or left empty with roofs torn open and walls crumbling.  These are right alongside newly built and or repaired houses. Where we are is actually beside an upscale marina  ... at least one building still badly damaged, but standing and being used.
We made it to The French Quarter just before noon. We peeked into St Louis Cathedral, a huge, white church built in the 1700's. There was a mass being held, but oh my, the paintings on the ceiling and just the woodwork/ sculpturing was incredible!!
The buildings in the French Quarter looked like something in Europe 200 years ago (probably are that old) and painted in bright colours with wrought iron balconies on the 2nd or 3rd floors and flower boxes full of brightly coloured plants. Apparently the levies broke very close to this area, so they were badly affected by the hurricane ... still, other than the occasional shop, this area likely looks a lot like it did before.
The air was full of music - some of the streets were blocked off to traffic, and jazz or blues musicians were set up just a block or two apart. There were buskers, hotdog carts, and even psychics set up on the streets. Oh and panhandlers - I listened to one fellow who was anxious to talk about his life and we ended up $4 poorer. The fellow who targeted Karl tried for $20 (for shining his scandals), but only got $1!!
We found a little Mexican restaurant where they told Max he could come in and bring his people. They had a pretty little courtyard where we had our lunch.
Lots of walking, lots of real characters!! One fellow was collecting money to legalize marijuana and then there were the artists out on the sidewalk, and on and on.
We walked along the levy and saw one of the big paddle-boats leaving, then checked out the French Market area - food and flea-market. Karl had a gator dog and I found a teeshirt - Roadtrip 2014 New Orleans. Well by that time, we had been walking for almost 4 hours, and were done and so was poor little Max.
Just a postscript about Max - everybody loves Max. He got sooooo many pets and cuddles today, wow. But the poor little thing ran for the trailer once we got back and was, within minutes, sound asleep. Same as Karl.