INTPix: Crossing the border into Louisiana. At this point, it still looks a lot like east Texas, except with notably more casinos (not pictured).
INTPix: Houses with decorative doodads. Judging from the lack of crowds, this is likely somewhere in the Marigny/Bywater area that we stayed in.
INTPix: French Quarter horse, and French Quarter crowds.
INTPix: We went during Easter because that was the only weekend we had available. But there were some advantages to the timing, like this fabulous egg wreath...
INTPix: ...and the Easter parades! New Orleans offers three separate parades at various times throughout the day. Naturally, we opted to attend the gay one.
INTPix: Parade beads. They're not just for Mardi Gras.
INTPix: Thomas wearing some of the spoils of the parade.
INTPix: French Quarter balconies.
INTPix: Thomas taking pictures of graffiti.
INTPix: Thomas's picture of graffiti.
INTPix: Thomas tends to photograph a lot of graffiti.
INTPix: He also likes to be photographed near graffiti. A note on cycling in NOLA: there are some serious potholes. You'll want bikes with thick tires, not the skinny road bikes you'd use in Austin. Luckily, our airbnb hosts had such bikes for us.
INTPix: And now, the obligatory cemetery visit.
INTPix: This is St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the oldest and most well-known of the lot. Conveniently located just north of the French Quarter.
INTPix: So, about all those X's.... (see description)
INTPix: Here's where Ms. Laveau is actually buried. But wait, you say, there are FEWER X's. And the tomb looks faintly pink. What gives? I suspect it has something to do with this: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/12/marie_laveaus_tomb_in_st_louis.html
INTPix: And this, friends, is where actor Nicolas Cage (star of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans ) will be interred when the time comes. It kind of makes you wish he was dead already.
INTPix: When we returned for our bikes, we found this unhappy looking animal fastened to the same post. Mule-drawn carriages are a thing in New Orleans.
INTPix: The Garden District. I think Anne Rice lives somewhere in this neighborhood. For the sake of simplicity, let's just assume this is her house.
INTPix: According to the Internet, this is St. Louis Cathedral, in Jackson Square. (Thanks, Internet!)
INTPix: Which would make this area Jackson Square.
INTPix: Ah, the mighty Mississippi River. We saw a couple dead rats around here.
INTPix: The French Quarter equivalent of a shopping mall Santa.
INTPix: In New Orleans, "yellow cabs" are orange. You got a problem with that?
INTPix: Bayou country near the Texas/Louisiana border.
INTPix: And this is just the view from a picnic area/visitor center we stopped at to eat our sandwiches. Imagine what you could see if you actually put some effort into exploring these swamps. That's a gator in front of that tree, btw. Here, I'll show you...
INTPix: ...voila, gator close up. This being the last image in the album, I guess it's a see-you-later-alligator.