a Great Blue Heron - though it could have been a model seeing as it never
moved, and some distant osprey. Well, Kevin said they were osprey, another
tourist said 'they are hawks', and repeated this ten times - perhaps thinking it
would make it come true in a 'there's no place like home' style.
Dubious wildlife aside the trip was relaxing and the views incredible.
Trees laden with Spanish moss, weird bulbous cypress knees breaking the
water's surface, and we even saw an Indian village. But above all, it was the
vastness of the space that again struck us. England was starting to feel very
small.
We headed to Fontainebleau State Park after the tour for a quick look at Lake
Ponchartrain. We were the only visitors by the lake, and it was very quiet and
peaceful. It was also very picturesque and Emma took some 'arty'
photographs as the sun set. She has an urge to do this every now and then,
fortunately never when we are in precarious positions (such as up snow laden
mountains) or when we are in a hurry (such as every other day during our
travels).
I think we needed quite a 'back to basics' day after the two days in New
Orleans and this really fitted the bill. We drove back to New Orleans via the
Lake Ponchartrain Causeway, a huge bridge mentioned in our guidebook so
obviously worth a look. Sadly it turned out to be quite dull, as it was pitch
black, quite expensive, and interminably long. The only way we stayed awake
was by playing 20 questions. Still, we refused to lose the peaceful mood
established by the day, until we got lost heading back into New Orleans.
We spent an hour or so trying to find the RV park and also debating