On the road again, and today we touched four US states in a single day.

Starting in Florida we crossed back into Alabama...

Then into Mississippi...

And finally into Louisiana - apparently one of the most ghetto states in the country. The territory of current Louisiana State was once a French colony, hence the French on the sign I assume.

Crossing yet another huge-ass body of water.

This was our reason for coming - New Orleans. The city is named after the city of Orléans in France, which Kristina and I actually visited while we were living in Paris. New Orleans is a melting pot of different cultures, and is most famous for its cuisine, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz), and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras (more on that in a bit). For all of this, the city is often referred to as the "most unique" in America. The city is also famous for being davasted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - more on that in a bit too.

We only had limited time to spend here before flying out to San Antonio tomorrow, so we set up camp in the popular French Quarter and started exploring. This is the oldest neighbourhood in New Orleans, but despite its name, most of the present day buildings were built under Spanish rule and show Spanish colonial tastes.

Although it looked and felt perfectly safe, I guess you can't be too careful when even roadside signs have to be locked down.

Around 4,000 people call the French Quarter home, though its population has been decreasing in recent years.

The Quarter (as it is simply known) is full of antique shops and art galleries, as well as...

...this stuff, related to the annual Mardi Gras celebration. To be honest, that Wikipedia link does a better job of explaining it than I can since I've never been. From what I understand though, Mardi Gras celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French), the day before Ash Wednesday during which time the population of New Orleans more than doubles. Popular practices include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, etc. The beads wrapped around the bike there thrown from floats to parade-goers. Anyway, it's all something to add to the to-do list :)

Several music groups busking in the streets, as well as folk openly consuming alcohol in public which is legal in New Orleans unlike everywhere else in the country with a small handful of exceptions.

This jazz group here was putting on a good show, though that dude on the right (with his broomstick) was enjoying it a bit too much. Video here.

With dusk approaching we wandered into Jackson Square, overlooked by St. Louis Cathedral and surrounded by 19th century buildings such as this one on the right. The ground floors house shops and restaurants; the upper floors are apartments that are the oldest continuously rented such apartments in the United States, so there you go.

Just to prove we were there :)

Across the street were some potential friends of mine hehe.

Just across from Jackson Square is the mighty Mississippi River - the chief river of the largest river system in North America. While here, I was approached by some black hobo who said "I bet I know where you got your shoes!" "Is that right?" "Yup, I bet you $10 I can tell you which state and which city you got your shoes!" hehe. The shoes I was wearing came from London so I said "Go on then, enlighten me." to which he replied "You got them right here on this boardwalk - see you got one on your left foot and one on your right foot. You've got them right here!" hahaha what an idiot! As we walked off and he called me a "Bitch asshole" for not paying up, another local jokingly said to us "I know where you got your shoes" and went on to explain that every tourist to New Orleans hears that line.

For dinner we got stuck into some authentic local chow while overlooking Bourbon Street - the most famous street in the hood. While it is now primarily known for its bars and strip clubs, Bourbon Street's history provides a rich insight into New Orleans' past which actually makes for a pretty good read (see that Wikipedia link).

Along its 13-block length, Bourbon Street is chocker with nightlife (some of it more brightly lit than others).

Beer to go - you don't see that very often! But given you're allowed to drink in the street here, why not.

Huge ass beers! Another tourist gimmick (to go with the "I know where you got your shoes" gimmick) is being invited to have your photo taken holding this sign, only to then have money demanded from you. Pricks! Kristina had been through that during a previous trip here so we knew about that one, not that we wanted a stupid bloody photo with this sign anyway.

It was a Tuesday night so things were comparatively quiet along here. It would have been good to have seen it during the weekend chaos but if/when we come back for Mardi Gras I'm sure I will :)

This was our rental car for the trip by the way. Before returning it to New Orleans airport and flying out to San Antonio, we took a drive through the Ninth Ward - one of the hardest-hit areas during Hurricane Katrina and something of a sick tourist attraction now. Katrina struck in late-August 2005. It was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Total property damage was estimated at $81 billion, and at least 1,833 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods - most of them right here in New Orleans. 80% of the city and large tracts of neighbouring areas became flooded, and the floodwaters lingered for weeks.

The Ninth Ward neighbourhood was thrust into the nation's spotlight during Hurricane Katrina. To add insult to injury, just one month after Katrina before the ward was even dry, part of it was flooded again by Hurricane Rita. More than seven years on, this is still the scene - deserted houses and roads resembling the surface of the moon (our car's suspension sure got a work out). It's a depressing sight to say the least and hard to believe that so little has been done about it.

Throughout the ward there are occupied, redeveloped homes sitting right next door to old homes on the brink of collapse.

And then there's this for example - virtually a mansion surrounded by dilapidation.

This blew my mind - some sort of gated community amidst the carnage. I later found out this is Jackson Barracks - headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard. It was completely destroyed by Katrina. Congress subsequently authorised 100% of the funding for re-construction, and the majority of the Barracks was rebuilt from scratch.

In 2006, Brad Pitt founded the Make It Right Foundation, organising housing professionals in New Orleans to finance and construct 150 sustainable, affordable new houses in the Ninth Ward following the devastation of Katrina. These properties here are some of those completed so far.