Normal temperature here for this time is low 60's (about 17 degrees C). Yesterday, we were around 74, so we are lucky to be experiencing temperatures that are quite a bit above average. Our first few days here, temperatures were more in the seasonal range, and we (I) had trouble staying warm in the house. I was carrying the ceramic heater around with me to whichever room I was in. After this warmer spell, forecast is for temperatures to return to mid 60's for the rest of the week.

Freret Market
Today we went to the Freret Market, which is held on the first Sat of each month . It has food and items by local artists. We shared a crepe and listened to a bit of the band, then headed out to check out Magazine St, which is a revitalized area full of funky shops, art galleries and restaurants. It went on for blocks & blocks! We didn't park and walk, as there was nothing that really grabbed us, but for someone in the mood for shopping in a funky district it would be great.

We headed home and spent some time out in the yard playing cards and talking to Bob, but then the clouds moved in and it dumped rain. We rethought our plans to go to the parade, but it cleared up and turned out to be a nice nite.

Krewe de Vieux Parade
"Mardi Gras" means "Fat Tuesday." Traditionally, it is the last day for Catholics to indulge before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Things really start to ramp up in the two to three weeks preceeding Fat Tuesday, and today was the first parade of the Carnival / Mardi Gras season - the Krewe de Vieux Parade .

A krewe (pronounced "crew") is an organization that puts on a parade and/or ball for the Carnival season. Krewe float riders toss throws to the crowds - usually strings of plastic colorful beads, doubloons (aluminum or wooden dollar-sized coins usually impressed with a krewe logo), decorated plastic throw cups, and small inexpensive toys. People do outrageous things to catch the most throws. Some dress as priests, hoping the many Catholics on the floats will shower them with goodies. Others dress their children in eye-catching costumes and seat them, holding baskets to catch the loot, on ladders that tower over the crowds. Others give up on costumes altogether and resort to taking their clothes off, finding that to be the quickest attention-getter.

The Krewe du Vieux takes its name from the Vieux Carre (old square), the official name for the French Quarter. The parade was a walking parade (versus the normal Mardi Gras parades consisting of many floats), and had seventeen bands accompanying it . The bigger parades with floats don't go thru the French Quarter anymore, as the streets are too narrow for the floats to get thru safely. The Krewe du Vieux is known for wild satirical and adult themes, as well as for showcasing some of the best brass and traditional jazz bands in New Orleans. The Krewe du Vieux consists of 17 "sub-krewes," each of which present their own interpretations of the theme. Some of the more colorfully named sub-krewes include the Krewe of C.R.U.D.E., Krewe of Underwear, Seeds of Decline, Krewe of L.E.W.D., Krewe of K.A.O.S., Mystic Krewe of Comatose, Mystic Krewe of Inane, and Krewe du Mishigas (an all-Jewish contingent).

The parade was supposed to start at 6:30 pm in the French Quarter, but we got there at 5:30 and found a good place to watch on Royal St, which was supposed to be on the parade route.   We waited 3 hours, along with many other people (lots of drunk, costumed, wandering revellers, as well as regular folk like us just waiting to see the parade). There were lots of interesting characters, but my camera battery was almost dead and I was saving what was left for the parade. There was a group of people on a balcony above us yelling "beads for boobs", and we saw one older lady flash for them. Nobody needed to see that. Roger said she didn't even have to lift her shirt very high cuz her boobs were down near her waist. Ewww. :(

After 3 hrs, we started to hear that the parade may have taken a different route. Not impressed. So we headed out to try to track it down. The street was wall to wall people .... ugh. We did find it, but it was so packed on the street that we couldn't see much. It didn't appear there was much to see anyway. Sigh. So we got the heck outta there. Glad we're not here for Mardi Gras - we're not good in crowds, especially drunken, rowdy crowds.