New Orleans, Louisiana -

Did a 2 hour walking tour of the famous French Quarter with its wonderful character buildings in bright colours and the wrought iron balconies everywhere. This historic district was untouched by Katrina but a lot of businesses closed down when the tourists stopped coming. New Orleans was settled by French and Spanish and has a very colourful history with some slavery history thrown in . Also famous for its annual Mardi Gras festival and its Creole and Cajun cuisine. Though we didn't get to try the cuisine I sampled the local cocktail of this party city, a 'Grenade' and appropriatley bought it in one of the famous Bourbon Street bars. The town's tourism is slowly picking up after hurricane Katrina and is even offering 'aftermath tours' showing people the devastation still very much in evidence. We witnessed this ourselves by driving around a few neighbourhoods. So many abandoned houses and businesses, boarded up windows and doors, many caravans/RV's in yards where home owners have decided to stay on. Every house with spray painted symbols on the front door to indicate the property has been searched for bodies. A surreal experience and one that will stay with us all for some time.

Of the 450,000 residents only half have returned to the city so far.

I am pleased to say the weather is still incredibly mild averaging around 15 degrees so we are still in our shorts and t-shirts.