STL DPB ON THE ROAD - REDUCED TO POSTING IMAGES OF LIQUOR MARKETING

No posts for a couple of days. I got back from New Orleans, went back to work and felt like I walked into a fan. More people and things want a piece of me than there is me to go around. I really want to retire but the plan is for next year after I turn 70.

Anyway, I don't have any new local material  (although I do have an improv festival to shoot Friday night). So, back to the Big Easy. I can't think of anyplace that promotes alcohol abuse and binge drinking like Bourbon Street. Many Americans will recognize this figure as the personification of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. I've never tasted the stuff but its marketing is inescapable.

He is supposed to be a pirate, a dishonorable profession. How much sea water do you think could build up  in those cuffs?        

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - A CHIHUAHUA WITH RED SUNGLASSES

We met this man on Bourbon Street in front of renowned Galatoire's restaurant, where one of the staff was helping him onto the sidewalk. Our best guess was that he had suffered a stroke. The blanket with the logo of the New Orleans Saints football team covered his wheelchair.  He had the sunniest personality of anyone I've met in a long time.

Yes, he was out hustling some income but he was simply charming. He had trained the dog on top to take off its sunglasses with its left front paw after a series of word commands. The crowd went wild.        

STLDPB ON THE ROAD - PALADAR 511

It is hard to eat poorly in New Orleans as long as you stay away from fast food (much easier to find than in Paris). We got out of the French Quarter and more out into the neighborhoods of the city.  Our server at the superb Gabrielle's in Uptown recommended Paladar 511. It's in the Marigny district. I had to look up the name. It's Spanish for palate or, in Cuba, an owner-operator restaurant. 511 is the street address. Oh wow.

I had my wonderful little Fujifilm X-T30 with me. It is black, small, and with a flip-out screen you can photograph people without being noticed. It was a young, hip scene.            

 

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF NEW ORLEANS THEY THINK OF . . .

Bourbon Street. This place makes the Las Vegas Strip look classy. One of the main marketing themes seems to be getting blotto drunk, although I don't know how much the bar owners and police actually tolerate. I'm not even sure if some of the bars ever close. 

On the other hand, Preservation Hall is just a few steps off Bourbon. Its motto is "dedicated to the preservation of jazz." It's old-style, traditional Dixieland. The inside is a bit of a dump but listening to those old musicians in unforgettable.          

STL DPB ON THE ROAD AGAIN - AW SHUCKS

It seems like I've hardly slept in my own bed lately. Back from Paris a few days ago, work as fast as I can, than down to New Orleans for a conference in my legal specialty. It's a big deal for me. The organization was founded and had its first meeting in this city 40 years ago. There are four of us at this meeting who were at the first one. I'm one of them. I thought they were going to give us something like the Legion of Honor, but no.

So Mrs. C and I went out for a walk today in the famous, historic and, in spots, quite tawdry French Quarter, or Vieux Carre. We stopped into an old place called Felix's for lunch. It's an oyster house. Somebody has to shuck all those oysters for the famous po' boy sandwiches. These guys were amazing for the speed at which they worked and the retention of all their fingers.           

MADELEINE MONDAY

There are more pictures of Paris. I could bore you with them for weeks but I think it's time to move on.

On Saturday we took the kid to a local attraction known as Grant's Farm. That takes some explaining. Civil War general and US president Ulysses S. Grant retired there when his public service was over. The property came into the hands of the Busch family, as in Anheuser-Busch. Adolphus Busch established a great estate a day's ride from the brewery (now a 30 minute drive at most). It stayed in the hands of the same family. In recent decades it became sort of a petting zoo-animal ride-little amusement park for kids. Plus the grown-ups get two free draws of AB products.

Madeleine liked it all. No horsemanship problems on the carousel.     

AT THE POMPIDOU

Posts have been hit and miss. We got home Wednesday night, I was buried at work and we go out of town again Tuesday for a professional conference. At least there will be plenty to photograph there.

Anyway, we made our obligatory visit to the Pompidou, the museum of modern and contemporary art with its still-shocking architecture. It is as well known for the views from its terrace as for the works on display. There are breathtaking views of the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre with Sacre Coeur on top.