Well, here we are again… the end of a truly fantastic trip to a fantastic town! These moments always come too soon, and I always want more time. But, off we must go…
I don’t really have much more to say that I haven’t already said. On our final day in this wonderful place we had brunch at Coop’s (do get their taste plate!), shopped at Marie Laveau and Southern Candy, and had some final drinks at St. Lawrence Restaurant (some vieux carres) and 21st Amendment (some sazaracs). As usual, insert my usual superlatives here as I describe the food, the drinks, the tempora, the mores.
Then we quietly and sadly made our way back to the airport.
Airports always have such extreme emotions attached to them. If you’re off somewhere exciting, they’re an exciting place to be, even if they design their horrible aesthetic around shades of grey, metal, and carpet, while if you’re returning home, you are so, so depressed, the shades of grey consume you, the metal weights you down, and the carpet just looks annoying, and it oppresses you with its blank stare.
Thinking back in time, though, on my first day arriving in New Orleans, I had difficulty fitting the city into a box. (I like putting things into boxes.) But, the box I chose for it on that first day (lawless postmodernism), still seems to stick for me. New Orleans is an eclectic celebration of music and art, a diverse collection of times and places, and a city that seems to be at home with welcoming bits and pieces of different cultures from around the world. And there are no rules for what belongs and what doesn’t.
But most of all, this town is just simply fantastic! And I adore it! And I can’t wait to return! Very few cities entrance me like this. London will always be very close to my heart, but trailing not terribly far behind is our New Orleans!
It may be an end prepared for, but one day I shall come back, indeed!