Moving on to Fontainebleau State Park

We left Lafayette on Tuesday morning 12 Nov. for Fontainebleau State Park on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain.  The route took us right through Baton Rouge and then down I-12 to Mandeville.  This is an interesting area of the country with names like Atchafalaya National Wildlife refuge



 

and Tchefuncta River and others.



 

 

Just before we entered Baton Rouge you cross the Mississippi River

Mississippi with busy barges

 Best picture of Baton Rouge as we passed



We arrived Fontainebleau State Park around 4:00pm and got checked in.  We went looking for our assigned site and while it was a pull-thru site it was a very sharp turn where the trailer would normally sit.  We tried pulling in and the trailer was hanging off in the grass.  We decided to go around the park and look for a more 'friendly' site.  It turns out that all the sites are the same.  We ended back at our original site and made some entry corrections and got parked. 
The Park is on the site of a Sugar Plantation which was developed in 1829 and operated with its own Sugar mill.  The foundation of the sugar mill is still visible and the Louisiana Parks Department has a visitors center with more on the history.   We will tell more on this in a later post.  For now I will add a picture of the area.

Massive Oak tree with Spanish Moss

We spent Wednesday doing the obligatory trip to Walmart and a few other errands.  We drove by a Café Du Monde restaurant and decided to stop.  Bill has been to Café Du Monde in the French Quarter numerous times but Stephanie has not so this was going to be a prelude for her.

Café Du Monde in Mandeville, LA

We each had the coffee and Bingets.  Not as good as Bill remembered them to be.  Maybe it had something to do with location. 

Stephanie found a recipe for a Potato Corn chowder soup she wanted to try so we ate dinner at home.

 

On Thursday, we decided it was a good day to go to New Orleans and visit the French Quarter.  It was a very cold morning but very little wind so we decided to brave it.  We decided to take the route over Lake Pontchartrain down to new Orleans.  This route is on the longest continuous bridge in the US.  It covers around 24miles.  By the time you get off the bridge you are in New Orleans.

 

Pontchartrain Causeway

New Orleans skyline





 The French Quarter is truly a sight to see.  Most buildings can be dated back to the early 1800's with some dating back to 1700's.  It isn't that there are building that old, it's the fact that there are so many buildings that old.  Street after street of well preserved buildings.  At the same time, relentless shop after shop gets a little overwhelming.

As we were walking around we saw a small band playing music on the street.  We stopped and Stephanie got a very nice picture.

Good music on the street

Bourbon Street, Beautiful but the smell is terrible

 

We spent some time in St. Louis Cathedral.  It is an absolutely beautiful church right off Jackson Square.  As you may know, it was named for the beloved French King Louis, originally built in 1729.  The current cathedral was built on the original site and completed in 1850.

Looking across Jackson Square at St. Louis Cathedral

One of many stained glass depicting the life of King Louis

The Lamb of God

 

Just to point out the realities of French Quarter life, when we left the church we went outside and there was a woman setup to do tarot card readings on the steps.  Seems Christianity is pretty tolerant to me.

 

After continuing our walking tour we decided to stop for lunch.  We went inside a restaurant boasting 'Breakfast all day' though neither of us got breakfast.  Stephanie went with the Creole combination plate (bowl of Gumbo, Jambalaya, Shrimp Creole and Red Beans and Rice.)  Bill, being a simple kind of guy, went with the Red Beans and Rice with Andoule sausage.

 

We decided after lunch to leave the French Quarter and drive around New Orleans for a while looking at old houses (something we really enjoy doing).  We made one more stop before we got to the truck to get Pecan Pralines.  They were delicious.  A couple more photos before we move on.







The real Café Du Monde

 

Stephanie with a real Joker

We looked up on Google to find neighborhoods with old houses and started driving.  Now, as you know, New Orleans is a pretty big town and some might even say a little rough, as in dangerous.  Well we saw some of that, and decided it would be best to just find our way out and as quick as possible.  We found I-10 and got on going East to Slidell.  We were back in Fontainebleau in no time.  The rest of our sight seeing will be up here on the North Shore.  More later.