We walked down to the river after a very late breakfast to get our tickets for the walking tour & meet our guide. We were a small group (8) & it turns out we had a great guide, Libby. She was born & bred here & her family have been here for several generations. She is a history buff & started off by giving us a history of New Orleans & all the exploits & wars that led to it being the place it is today. It was a story of Indian, French, British & Spanish heritage together with trade of sugar & cotton. The creole tradition is local but the Cajun people originated in what is now Nova Scotia (Arcadia at the time) in Canada.
We then started our walk, finding the shade at all times ‘cos today is very hot & the forecasted rain did not materialise. She showed us the flood gates that are closed in the event of a storm swell blowing up the river from the Gulf of Mexico. This led on to the inevitable discussion about Hurricane Katrina, 10 yrs ago.