Spring Break 2000 in New Orleans

New-Orleans (spring break 2000) A delayed departure We were out of school by Friday but couldn't leave before the next Sunday because we bought the tickets a bit late. We had to buy the Greyhound tickets at least a week has the advance to have discount. So we witnessed everyone deserting the campus that weekend. Here is a short slideshow (with Quicktime). A long journey We got on a cab around 10am to get to the 11:15 bus. The weather was crappy and it was drizzling a bit, so we were glad to leave and go south. The bus was on time and rather full. A long journey of 24h awaited us, with 3 connections: Birmingham, Nashville and another one I cannot remember. I spent my time trying to sleep. But each time I managed to doze off, the bus would stop in one of those small towns in the middle of nowhere. And new passengers in need of some adventures or escaping from their dead towns were heard boarding the bus. We really drove through some dead towns in the Appalachian mountains. A lot of them are old mining townsOne is master key by fantomes cities very likewise, cities minieres delabrees along the Appalachian Mountains. After one of these stops, I ended up sitting next to this guy called Elliot, a young man who was returning to his military base near Nashville. And because he insisted in making conversations, I made up all these crazy stories!! Caroline couldn't believe the bullshit I manged to produce. In short, I was a tourist who just landed on the continent and who stupidly arranged to cross America by Greyhound.... hum..Of course it was difficult not to be contradicted when he wanted to hang out with us and thus got to talk with Caroline...He invited us to get a drink somewhere downtown and started to walk with the others, asking questions about the weather in Washington DC, etc..., And I gave him an answer, and Caroline told him something totally different. That was my lesson...better not lie to a guy who is used to do investigations or interrogations-LOL... Anyway, he was ok, just a bit on the odd side. After Nashville, it was a long descent towards the south, while passing by Knoxville. We were eager to reach our destination. And we saw a nice sunrise while getting into Alabama. We could feel the heat and the landscape had changed into flat terrain with bushes and green trees. I felt like being on the set of 'the color crimson' ....is that the title of that movie in English?	We got into New Orleans bus and train station at midday, and we spent some time trying to find somewhere to stay for the night. At the information desk, Caro had a hell of a time trying to extract some useful info out of this lady who had a very heavy accent...and she wouldn't stop telling us that we were too much in a hurry..we were in the South alright...So I tries my luck and tried to talk with her, but all I could get was a lot of 'honey'. Finally she pointed us to the places worth visiting, the bargains,and most importantly, she gave me an idea of what the accent in the area would be...wow...some accent! After all that we still didn't have a hotel though. So we got to this display board next to the exit, and looked at all the ads and list of small hotels. We used the free phone attached to the booth to call the hotels on the list. And there, luck struck us as we talked to someone who had a room for us for $45/night. After getting some directions, we dragged ourselves out of the station and towards the French Quarters. We were not heavily loaded, but we had to endure the newly found heat and humidity, while looking like rich homeless people or poor sleep-deprived tourists with our backpacks, cameras and sunglasses. We missed Mardi Gras by few days but we still could see signs of it on the ground: bead, confettis. Horse Carriages were roaming the streets, full with tourists..that looked awfully like Fred from the back! LOL. We found the hotel in the middle of the French Quarters, next to Bourbon St and St Phillip. It was a pretty typical house in the area. A big door on the street is the entrance and leads to a patio... the landlord was getting the aperitifs ready for 4pm. He lead us to our ooms...which are really apartments. We had 3 double beds, a full equipped kitchen (and I mean even pots and pans, cookbooks, plates, etc...), and a balcony aaaaaaaaaahhhh! This was my dream flat! This was unbelieveable! We soon joined our host downstairs for a drink under a green outdoor umbrella, next to a wall fountain. No ID checking here, just social talks. Like they say.."laissez bon temps rouler".. We stayed in this haven for 2 days because I had reserved the next 2 nights in another hotel not to far in the same street. The hotel had an Irish flair to it. After some bad news with my bank card (not enough $$), we finally had a room for the night. But we decided to stay only for a night because we all wanted to get back to the previous hotel which was much more comfortable and 3 times less expensive. To be Continued....
©H. Ramaroson

New-Orleans (spring break 2000)

A delayed departure
We were out of school by Friday but couldn't leave before the next Sunday because we bought the tickets a bit late. We had to buy the Greyhound tickets at least a week has the advance to have discount. So we witnessed everyone deserting the campus that weekend. Here is a short slideshow (with Quicktime).

A long journey
We got on a cab around 10am to get to the 11:15 bus. The weather was crappy and it was drizzling a bit, so we were glad to leave and go south. The bus was on time and rather full. A long journey of 24h awaited us, with 3 connections: Birmingham, Nashville and another one I cannot remember.

I spent my time trying to sleep. But each time I managed to doze off, the bus would stop in one of those small towns in the middle of nowhere. And new passengers in need of some adventures or escaping from their dead towns were heard boarding the bus. We really drove through some dead towns in the Appalachian mountains. A lot of them are old mining townsOne is master key by fantomes cities very likewise, cities minieres delabrees along the Appalachian Mountains. After one of these stops, I ended up sitting next to this guy called Elliot, a young man who was returning to his military base near Nashville. And because he insisted in making conversations, I made up all these crazy stories!! Caroline couldn't believe the bullshit I manged to produce. In short, I was a tourist who just landed on the continent and who stupidly arranged to cross America by Greyhound.... hum..Of course it was difficult not to be contradicted when he wanted to hang out with us and thus got to talk with Caroline...He invited us to get a drink somewhere downtown and started to walk with the others, asking questions about the weather in Washington DC, etc..., And I gave him an answer, and Caroline told him something totally different. That was my lesson...better not lie to a guy who is used to do investigations or interrogations-LOL... Anyway, he was ok, just a bit on the odd side.

After Nashville, it was a long descent towards the south, while passing by Knoxville. We were eager to reach our destination. And we saw a nice sunrise while getting into Alabama. We could feel the heat and the landscape had changed into flat terrain with bushes and green trees. I felt like being on the set of 'the color crimson' ....is that the title of that movie in English?

We got into New Orleans bus and train station at midday, and we spent some time trying to find somewhere to stay for the night. At the information desk, Caro had a hell of a time trying to extract some useful info out of this lady who had a very heavy accent...and she wouldn't stop telling us that we were too much in a hurry..we were in the South alright...So I tries my luck and tried to talk with her, but all I could get was a lot of 'honey'. Finally she pointed us to the places worth visiting, the bargains,and most importantly, she gave me an idea of what the accent in the area would be...wow...some accent! After all that we still didn't have a hotel though. So we got to this display board next to the exit, and looked at all the ads and list of small hotels. We used the free phone attached to the booth to call the hotels on the list. And there, luck struck us as we talked to someone who had a room for us for $45/night. After getting some directions, we dragged ourselves out of the station and towards the French Quarters. We were not heavily loaded, but we had to endure the newly found heat and humidity, while looking like rich homeless people or poor sleep-deprived tourists with our backpacks, cameras and sunglasses. We missed Mardi Gras by few days but we still could see signs of it on the ground: bead, confettis. Horse Carriages were roaming the streets, full with tourists..that looked awfully like Fred from the back! LOL.

We found the hotel in the middle of the French Quarters, next to Bourbon St and St Phillip. It was a pretty typical house in the area. A big door on the street is the entrance and leads to a patio... the landlord was getting the aperitifs ready for 4pm. He lead us to our ooms...which are really apartments. We had 3 double beds, a full equipped kitchen (and I mean even pots and pans, cookbooks, plates, etc...), and a balcony aaaaaaaaaahhhh! This was my dream flat! This was unbelieveable! We soon joined our host downstairs for a drink under a green outdoor umbrella, next to a wall fountain. No ID checking here, just social talks. Like they say.."laissez bon temps rouler"..

We stayed in this haven for 2 days because I had reserved the next 2 nights in another hotel not to far in the same street. The hotel had an Irish flair to it. After some bad news with my bank card (not enough $$), we finally had a room for the night. But we decided to stay only for a night because we all wanted to get back to the previous hotel which was much more comfortable and 3 times less expensive.

To be Continued....