Lost in Navigation

The Americans can do a lot, but sometimes it's not that easy technically. We had planned to visit the famous cemetery and also stop by Anne Rice's house that Nadine knows from the book "Hexenstunde" before we leave New Orleans this morning. The house was quickly found, but the description apparently came from a long time ago. It looked beautiful, the Greek-style columns and the white façade quite attractive. Nevertheless, Nadine expected something else. But - who can claim to have been here. We were!

Then we were supposed to go to the famous cemetery. It is generally warned against stopping by or similar, so we wanted to maybe just catch a glimpse as we drove by. Our GPS made it easy for us, New Orleans only has this one cemetery... says the GPS! When we arrived, it said "St. Louis Cemetery". Hmmm, we were actually looking for Lafayette, but the GPS didn't know it. However, we didn't feel like searching further. You were (maybe) even allowed to drive across St. Louis and we got an impression of the unusual burial method here in New Orleans, where they take place above ground in larger or smaller mausoleums. The reason is the very high water table here in the Mississippi Delta!

Then we continued westward on Interstate #10. Past Baton Rouge over a massive bridge over the Mississippi, through the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge, a nature reserve mainly characterized by marshland. The interstate here leads almost exclusively on stilts straight ahead endlessly. Nadine saw countless turtles from the car, unfortunately no alligators. For lunch, we stopped at Popeye's - Louisiana Kitchen. Note: Spicy in Louisiana is quite fiery... but very delicious!

Oh by the way, the current dining situation in Louisiana. Apparently, it is not allowed to eat in a restaurant anywhere, everything is sold to go. One of the very few COVID measures that we really notice on this trip.

Arriving in Lafayette, we wanted to visit the campus of the University of Louisiana. The over 100-year-old campus where currently more than 17,000 students are studying, seemed deserted. We saw signs at other schools that there was a Mardi Gras Break, possibly here too. The state university's basketball team, the Raqin 'Cajuns, is currently playing championship playoffs against Pensacola. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in finding a UNI Cafe or something similar, so we drove on.

The Arkadian Village is advertised as worth seeing, a kind of museum village where the Cajuns still live like they did 200 years ago. However, it was already after 4 p.m. and we are not sure if we will go there again tomorrow.

Our hotel, the Microtel Inn, didn't sound promising, but it exceeds our expectations significantly. We really appreciate a clean shower. That's why Nadine is already asleep and I'm not watching rodeo on TV tonight (there's an 18-day tournament going on in Houston that is broadcast every evening), but NBA basketball instead.

Both of us are looking forward to tomorrow's day heading north along the Mississippi.