PHOTOGRAPHYALAMY, ALIX CLARK, GETTY IMAGESDETAILS
Cafe Beignet 334
Royal St, New
Orleans; http://www.
cafebeignet.com.
Central BBQ 147
E Butler Ave,
Memphis; http://www.
cbqmemphis.com.
Country Music Hall
of Fame and
Museum222 5th
Ave S, Nashville;
http://www.countrymusic
hallofame.org.
Monmouth Historic
Inn and Gardens
1358 John A Quitman
Blvd, Natchez; http://www.
monmouthhistoric
inn.com.National
Civil Rights
Museum 450
Mulberry St,
Memphis; http://www.
civilrightsmuseum.
org.New Orleans
School of Cooking
524 St. Louis St, New
Orleans; http://www.
neworleansschoolof
cooking.com.
Preservation Hall
726 St. Peter St, New
Orleans; http://www.
preservationhall.
com.Robert’s
Western World
416B Broadway,
Nashville; http://www.
robertswestern
world.com.Sun
Studio706 Union
Ave, Memphis;
http://www.sunstudio.
com.The Stage
on Broadway 412
Broadway, Nashville;
http://www.thestageon
broadway.com.
The nine-day
‘Southern Grace’
tour is run by
Luxury Gold by
Insight Vacations;
http://www.insight
vacations.com/au.GETTING THERE VIRGIN AUSTRALIA OFFERS FLIGHTS TO NEW ORLEANS
WITH ITS CODESHARE PARTNER DELTA AIRLINES. TO BOOK, VISIT
WWW.VIRGINAUSTRALIA.COM OR CALL 13 67 89 (IN AUSTRALIA).Our musical education continues in
New Orleans, a city that, despite being
firmly in the South, does not consider
itself ‘Southern’. Founded by the French
in 1718, then given to the Spanish in 1763,
before being won back by the French and
eventually sold to the US in 1803 as part
of the US$15 million (about $1.5 trillion
today) Louisiana Purchase, New Orleans
has a character all of its own.
It also has an intriguing food scene,
as demonstrated by Kevin Belton, a chef
at the New Orleans School of Cooking.
Larger than life in every regard, Belton’s
enthusiasm for food fills the room as
potently as the aroma of gumbo (a
traditional soup) and white chocolate
bread pudding. Not surprisingly, given
the city’s sugar plantation history,
tooth-achingly sweet pecan pralines are
prevalent across town. As he whips up
a batch, the chef warns us not to make
them when home alone — it’s too easy to
devour the lot in a single sitting, he says.
The city is also famous for its beignets
(diamond-shaped doughnuts covered
with icing sugar), and Cafe Beignet, down
the road from our historic lodgings at
Hotel Monteleone in the thriving French
Quarter, serves some of the best in town.
Our guide, Jim Besse, shows us the
historic homes lining Esplanade Avenue
and St. Charles Avenue — we see stunning
Steamboat Gothic, Greek Revival and
Victorian architecture, passed down
through the generations.
But above all else, we’re here to
experience the music — and this is
New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. The
city’s most famous address, Bourbon
CLOCKWISE
FROM TOP
Bourbon Street
at dusk; Maison
Bourbon; heritage
architecture in
New Orleans’
French Quarter;
beignets and café
au lait at Cafe
Du Monde.Street, can get rowdy, so grab a ‘to-go’ drink and wander the
streets until you find a venue you like the look, and sound,
of. There’s no shortage of bands playing in the streets, either;
ramble down Royal Street any time for an open-air show.
On the final night of our trip, we take our place on the
wooden pews and floor cushions of Preservation Hall,
established in 1961 to protect and promote traditional New
Orleans jazz. It’s a tiny room, photography isn’t allowed and
there’s a queue of punters waiting to get in — but when you’re
on your feet singing an acoustic version of You Are My Sunshine
at 11pm, your musical soul will be satisfied, high hair or not.