17 - Ragin' Cajuns
After six days spent mostly on the road and travelling nearly 2,000 miles we
were ready for a bit of a break, and so was Harvey. Therefore Louisiana
became our home for the next week, with a day in Lafayette, three days in
and around New Orleans, and the time in between taken up by semi-scenic
lazy day drives. Although we stayed within the same state during this time it
was hardly restful. The Deep South was probably one of the liveliest places
we visited, particularly New Orleans, and we got our fill of people, noise,
booze and culture during this time. In fact the only thing we failed to get our fill
of was food - something quite important to us, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.
Often the local cuisine was just a little too exotic for us - and by exotic I
mean really spicy. Still, there was always McDonald’s! Although actually the
only time we ventured under the golden arches during this week was for a
chocolate milkshake - and that tasted of banana.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the sunny skies that had
accompanied us on our road trip days deserted us once we set up camp in
Cajun country, restricting both our day trips and our ability to sleep. At night
listening to the rain it was only a minor leap of the imagination to re-situate our
bed to a war movie during the Chinese water torture scene.
Undeterred by the home horror movie supplied by our Lafayette campsite as
an ‘orientation’ film we ventured into the city the next day. We took advantage
of another complementary service, an audio tour, and this proved to be much
more palatable than the video. The tape was narrated by an incredibly