The Three Hour Tour of the City

When we think of visiting a city and all of its history most of the time we don't think of visiting a cemetery. Cemeteries are to us a place of mourning, a place that we would much rather forget about than go to. Here in New Orleans a cemetery is a place of celebration, a place that is not hidden but is the complete opposite. To describe your resting place after death there is no choice whether to be buried or not because burial is not an option here in Louisiana.

As we began to tour the historical St. Louis cemetery No. 1 the main thing I noticed was the frailty look of the tombs. The majority of the tombs were white in color but the paint has chipped away from them from age of from quite a bit of vandalism that has happened over the years.

As you look at the tombs you will notice that they are all made of heavy stone and some of the tombs have multiple family members buried in the one tomb. In the picture you will see that it has one to three openings depending on how the family wants the tomb to operate. When the family member dies the coffin is placed into the tomb and as the sun heats up the tomb the body will decay. Years after, or once the next family member dies that body is pulled out and the bones of that family member are put in the bottom of the tomb in a bag in the corner of the tomb which is how they are able to house so many in one tomb.









The famous Marie Laveaus Tomb is the most visited tomb in New Orleans. They believe that she is buried in the tomb on her husbands family which is said to house over 85 bodies buried with Marie Laveau. Guests of her tomb will place tokens and gifts around her tomb all the time such as tokens, bracelets, flowers and some have even tried to write on her tomb but now that they have locked up the cemetery and only allowed tour guides in this has stopped them from writing on the tombs.

We were able to go on a "Cuisine Tour" today which was quite a treat! This tour brought about quite a sensory overload. We started this tour at a restaurant called Tujague's Restaurant which is New Orleans second oldest restaurant and was established in 1856. Here we were able to have a broiled beef brisket slider which have been Tujague's trademark dish since opening. I would have to say that this was one of my favorite on the tour. The sandwich was small but hidden inside of this small bite was so much flavor your mouth was having a party with every bite. I was immediately hit with horseradish that gave it the perfect amount of burn that horseradish should give while the brisket was cooked perfectly so that it just melted in your mouth which was creole horseradish sauce. Along with this the lettuce and tomato gave the sandwich the perfect little crunch and coolness to the sandwich.

My second favorite on our stop was when we went to Arnaud's classic creole cuisine in the heart of the French Quarter.  We had Shrimp Arnaud boiled gulf shrimp marinated in Arnaud's famous Remoulade sauce served over chopped lettuce and sliced tomato and it was served with a side of turtle soup. I tried the shrimp first and was surprised because I wasn't expecting the shrimp to be cold but I loved the cold with the spicy combination. The shrimp was so incredibly good that I could have eaten an entire meal of just that. It had just the right amount of spice on it and it wasn't something that was a burn spice it was a flavorful spice. This is the spicy that I like. On to the turtle soup, now I am not too adventurous when it comes to any kind of things like turtle but I thought because we are on a cuisine tour I am going to try it. As I grabbed my spoon I decided to go for it and take an entire spoon full instead of just a small portion of it on my spoon. As the soup hit my mouth there was a surge of different flavor going through my mouth and I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed the taste. Most would probably respond with the saying "It tastes like chicken", but I don't believe that I would say that because this soup had enough different spices that brought out the unique flavor to where I would not say it tasted like chicken. It was very good, perfectly seasoned and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone.

When you walk into this establishment you walk into the casual restaurant Remoulade which is like walking into a casual family friendly atmosphere, it reminded me of a 50's diner. The walls and seats were all red and white and the floors were tile or vinyl. As we made our way through the casual dining area we went to the back of the restaurant to Arnaud's. It was a completely different experience within a distance of 30 feet. Within that 30 feet there was a whole new room filled with beautiful crisp white table linens folded neatly with the most beautiful shiny silverware and bright white plates on the tables. The chandeliers hanging from the ceilings were dim which allowed you to look at them for longer and take in their beauty. The walls were covered with pictures of the original owners who have since passed away and the current owners who have kept it such a success.

Along with the beautiful dining rooms available at the restaurant upstairs we were able to see the Mardi Gras museum of Germaine Wells who was the Mardi Gras Queen 22 times. This was a site to see and wanted to share some pictures of this museum.

The unbelievable detail and uniqueness to all of these dresses and to know that they were all handmade is more impressive.