Wed 7th April 2010 – Oysters, Alligator and Grits - Bonjour the Big Easy

I’ve arrived. After a couple of months of getting very excited I touched down at New Orleans International at 7.15pm. Flying in I got an impression of some of the geography of the place. It’s surrounded by swamps, marshes and a lot of water which was of course the big problem when Katrina hit in 2005.

It was a long old flight which gave me a chance to have a read of my guide books. Sian at work gave me The WPA Guide to New Orleans, published in 1938 and provides an amazing picture of what the city was like then. A Streetcar Named Desire was showing on the plane.

I had to go through the pain of US immigration in Houston Texas (where I also got my first glimpse of some genuine American rednecks). The border guard man was quite nice (which makes a change) and asked me what I was doing in New Orleans. I told him I was going to a town planning conference (not sure he understood what I was on about); his response was “pretty dumb place to put a city”. This is apparently the view of a lot Americans, including congressman who after Katrina gave serious consideration to abandoning the city. I am looking forward to seeing this week whether this is a valid point of view.

I got the airport shuttle to my hotel and got my first glimpse of downtown New Orleans. In front of the high-rise CBD skyline, the first recognisable structure I see is the enormous UFO like Superdrome which became infamous as a place of refuge during Katrina. The bus dropped off a lot of guests to hotels in the French Quarter which is as pretty and crumbling as the guidebook suggests. I’m staying in the Marriott Courtyard, right by the Morial Convention Center where the APA conference is taking place, so pretty convenient. So far the only possible sign that the place was hit by a devastating hurricane were the adverts on the freeway for “Weatherisation” Programs to help people storm proof their homes. The place is heaving with people and all the bars I saw were packed with people on the lash. It’s a Wednesday night. New Orleans is definitely a party town.

I was pretty knackered by the time I checked in and sorted myself out, so went looking for food. Cochon, apparently one of the best creole restaurants in town, is a couple of blocks away so I headed straight there and took a seat at the bar (the restaurant was heaving). Everything on the menu sounded good, but I plumped for wood fired oyster roast (massive smokey oysters), fried alligator with chilli garlic aioli (a bit like chicken) and a side of creamy grits (which is apparently corn based and a bit like mash potato mixed with semolina). Best meal I’ve had for a long time.

I’m going to like the Big Easy.