Slow train to Memphis

New Orleans was very hot and very humid this morning. This played havoc with my hair, but was a small price to pay for the free walking tour that we got from Danny the National Parks Ranger. You have to turn up at the Parks office at 9am, but as we limited ourselves to one cocktail last night (in a gay bar called "Napoleon's Itch") that wasn't too much of a headache either.

The British took a bit of a battering on the tour, mainly because we turned up in 1813 expecting to march into the city for Christmas. They're still proud that they held us off until we retreated in disgust. The city is also not built below sea level - it's below river level, and the natural river levees didn't break in 2005. If you lie a map of the 1800s New Orleans over the modern day one, so we were told, it matches almost exactly what survived Katrina. But no one has yet decided how the city will be rebuilt, and the Ranger described how they "sweated out" hurricane season last year and are counting the days until this one. Life seems a bit precarious there at the moment, but we were genuinely thanked by several people for coming and taking a look at how things were going.

We caught our train to Memphis but were only coach class this time. Once you get a taste for that first class accommodation it's hard to go back! But we roughed it out in the massive superliner coach seats that fully recline with footrests etc. The train was a double-decker with a wonderful observation car, allowing us to keep up with the drastically changing scenery of the Mississippi delta as swamps gave way to forests and farmland.

Arriving in Memphis was more than a little scary. The train station was completely deserted with no signs to any other transport. We wandered onto a deserted street to find (praise the Lord!) a streetcar. The driver started up as soon as we got onboard, and for a dollar each we got to our hotel and even had a limited sightseeing commentary (limited because we had to follow the tram rails, and it was 10.45 at night).

Enough! It's bedtime, and tomorrow is a very big day. Elvis Presley gets to meet me and Hannah.



Ranger Danny leads the way



The highest point in New Orleans. Not very high.



A paddleboat on the Mississippi



A New Orleans cemetary - graves built above ground because of the water table.



Beignets - little fluffy pillows of cholesterol



Hannah tucks in regardless



New Orleans station's hi-tech arrivals board



Hannah watches a terrapin in the swamps - can you spot him?



Prime Louisiana swamp land



A Memphis streetcar

P.S. Happy St. David's Day! They seem to be more interested in St. Patrick over here.