(Cocoa and Beignets – Mr. Blue Sky)
We decided to get up very early and head right down to Cafe Du Monde.
The original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market. The Cafe is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, serving coffee and beignets. Beignets were brought to Louisiana by the Acadians. These were fried fritters, sometimes filled with fruit. Today, the beignet is a square piece of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar.
You can see they have a limited menu. Everyone goes there for the beignets.
Why we decided to go there so early in the morning was because yesterday we saw how long the waiting lines are during the day.
Having no desire to waste time waiting in a line we thought early morning would be the best bet. We were right. Hardly anyone there.
So here’s our breakfast.
Before
Richard: coffee and beignets
Me: hot cocoa (they don’t serve tea) and beignets
After
They were certainly different. I was expecting a much softer texture but they are quite firm and chewy. As you can see we each ate all three of our beignets but there’s such a lot of powdered sugar that we left most of it on our plates. It was an absolute necessity to try them.
We saw so many things during our short stay. Here are a few more photos.
Horse and Carriage Tours
Joan of Arc
France erected the statue in 1972 as a gift to New Orleans, whose namesake, Orléans, was one of the towns Joan of Arc (1412-1431) defended from the English during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453).
Streetcars
Streetcars here have been an integral part of the city’s public transportation network since the first half of the 19th century. The longest of New Orleans’ streetcar lines, the St. Charles Avenue Line is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world
Old Man River
An 18-foot monumental stylized stone human figure made of 17 tons of Carrara marble, resides beside the Mississippi River in the French Quarter. Executed in 1991, the statue speaks to the river’s power and majesty in its rounded, circular body forms, which convey a harmony of the work to its location. The river is connected through the openings of the legs and arms to the land.
It’s description reads:
A Man with a Past
Arms reach empty handed,
God to a city in Love
with Water
Robert Schoen
Artist 1991
Jackson Square
Known as one of New Orleans’ most recognizable landmarks, Jackson Square is a National Historic Landmark nestled in the center of the French Quarter. The 2.5-acre space welcomes over 2 million visitors and locals each year and hosts a number of city events and celebrations, weddings and photography sessions. Jackson Square has even served as a backdrop in a number of popular feature films and television shows. The landmark earns its name for the bronze statue of Andrew Jackson located in the center of the square.
Jackson Square is also the location of an open-air artist colony, where artists display their work on the outside of the iron fence. Visitors even have the opportunity to see the artists at work and perhaps have their portrait drawn by one of the many talents utilizing Jackson Square as their studio.
This was taken around 7:00 a.m.
We spent most of our time in the French Quarter. Perhaps other time we’ll get to all the other things.
We saw this on our early morning walk. I guess they have to clean the streets each morning due to the nighttime revelries.
Sadly, like in a lot of cities, there were many homeless people sleeping and begging on the streets. During our Hop On tour we even saw tents erected below underpasses with people’s belongings scattered around the tents. It was upsetting to see.
I’d say this was my favourite moment. 
We accomplished a great deal in our short trip but there’s so much more that we missed. That’s for another time.
Nite y’all 😴
Debi's Junket Journal 