New Orleans felt 'different' as soon as we arrived. The streets have so much character, the buildings tell stories of another era and there seems to be music everywhere. Not just coming from the bars, but drifting through open windows, echoing around squares and appearing unexpectedly as you wander through the French Quarter.
One of my favourite memories happened completely by chance. We were walking through the French Quarter when we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a New Orleans wedding parade. The bride and groom were leading the way with a brass band behind them, while their friends and family danced through the streets waving handkerchiefs. Complete strangers stopped to watch and join in, and for a few minutes it felt as though everyone around us was part of the celebration.
Music was a huge part of why I loved New Orleans, and I'd definitely make time for Frenchmen Street rather than spending every evening around Bourbon Street. One night we ended up at The Spotted Cat Music Club, squeezed into this tiny, lively room with the musicians playing only a few feet away. It wasn't polished or particularly glamorous, but it was brilliant. We stayed far longer than we'd intended and completely lost track of time.
We also wandered into a record shop one afternoon and came home with some genuine New Orleans jazz on vinyl. I love bringing things home that actually remind me of somewhere rather than buying souvenirs for the sake of it, and those records do exactly that. Put one on now and I'm immediately back to those warm evenings wandering around the city with music coming from seemingly every direction.
New Orleans has a brilliantly quirky side too, which is how we somehow found ourselves in a hot sauce museum. I'm not entirely sure a museum dedicated to hot sauce had been on our original itinerary, but obviously we had to go in. We ended up working our way through a tasting of Louisiana sauces, from smoky and full of flavour to a few that were significantly hotter than I'd anticipated.
It was slightly ridiculous so I naturally loved it.
That's one of the things I enjoyed most about the city. You can visit somewhere genuinely fascinating in the morning and then stumble across a hot sauce museum, a wedding parade or an incredible band later that day. New Orleans doesn't seem particularly interested in being conventional.
Another favourite part (and always a selling point!) was the food. We ate fresh seafood, Creole dishes and, obviously, beignets covered in enough icing sugar to make eating them neatly completely impossible. Food feels as much a part of understanding New Orleans as the music does, and I'd leave plenty of room in any itinerary to follow recommendations and try things as you find them rather than booking every meal before you arrive.
Looking back, I don't think there was one big attraction that made me love New Orleans. It was everything happening around them. The music coming from a bar we'd never heard of, sitting down for something to eat and staying longer than planned, browsing records, tasting increasingly questionable quantities of hot sauce and suddenly finding ourselves following a brass band through the French Quarter.
That's how I'd recommend experiencing it too. Have a few things planned, absolutely, but leave plenty of time to wander. New Orleans is one of those rare cities where getting distracted is often far more interesting than sticking to the itinerary.
A place that stayed with me
Frenchmen Street. It felt much more like the New Orleans I'd hoped to find, with small bars, brilliant live music and another band seemingly waiting behind every doorway. The Spotted Cat was a particular favourite.
A moment I’ll never forget
Finding ourselves watching a wedding parade weave its way through the French Quarter, with the brass band leading the celebrations and people dancing along behind. We had no idea it was going to happen, which made it even better.
One thing I brought home
Our New Orleans jazz vinyl. I could have brought home something more traditional (although my bottle from the hot sauce museum comes pretty close!), but I love that putting one of those records on can take me straight back to the city.
