New Orleans in full Jazz Fest swing

6.55am, Saturday 29th April, Orleans Street, New Orleans, Louisiana

Morning folks, and right now, it’s just the street cleaners and me up and about. The city is jam packed to the gills with pretty happy laid back late night revellers, and our crew of Victorian restaurateurs and retailers are soaking the whole ‘Big Easy’ thing up in style. We’ve got right into the cultural thing – joined the locals for Jazz in the Park, went out to Willie Mae’s Scotch House for possibly the best ‘fraaaaaied chikkkn’ in the country (and yep, everybody has to line up), and got quite flashed up  to go along to the old school fine dining house Brennan’s last night for our Welcome along team dinner…….accompanied by some of Yalumba’s finest – 1989 Menzies, 2006 Reserve, and the brace of 2009 & 2010 Octavius……thank you Terry for raiding your cellar, and for everyone that ferried bottles accross in their luggage.

Oh and PS….still on London time, so that’s the working breakfast photo first up – 6am run down to Cafe du Monde for their fab cafe au lait and beignets ( ben-yays if you want to sound like a local), and a catch up on those jolly always accumulating each one requires an answer emails.

So cheers from the Crescent City, most folks are off to the Jazz Fest today, and I’m off to catch up with our new area manager for Down this way …..Louis. We’re off to Crabby Jacks, local seafood shack right next to the Louisiana seafood exchange, so catfish and shrimp …..here we come!