The days blend together when I’m posting 3 months later. Won’t let that happen again, Barbara! Friday I grabbed some breakfast in the hotel dining room, then headed out to the mud fields. I had great fun sampling what kinds of music were at different stages. Found that the Fais Do Do had such great energy that it became a staple stop for me.
The other good thing about it was that I could walk just 20 feet over and hear what was playing at one of the bigger stages. Today I caught a bit of Patti Smith that way. Interesting to see her rocking out after having read her incredible book “Just Kids”, about her and Robert Mapplethorpe’s arrival in New York back in the day and their rise to fame.
The mud was really a pain, and after a while it was just easier to get muddy. I really enjoyed Marcia Ball, and headed home just before 7 to avoid the rush. I actually just crashed early at the hotel after my ridiculously late evening (morning) the day before. Not as much to report tonight.
Saturday morning I headed over first thing to the National World War II Museum, highly recommended by mom. It seems that the gentleman who invented the landing boats hailed from and produced them somewhere nearby. The museum was not quite finished, but the exhibits, focusing mostly on getting into the war and D-Day, were impressive. I watched an informative movie in a huge theater that included rumbling seats and Disney-quality special effects. I grabbed a bite of lunch and headed over to the festival.
Today one of the headliners was Phoenix, a french group that motivated me to head to New Orleans in the first place. I had seen them once, at the second and final Mile High Music Festival in Denver, but looking forward to seeing them again. I was traveling on a VIP ticket that allowed me to enter a close up section at 3 of the stages, so I was able to stand within about 10 feet of the actual stage:
The guys were awesome, and Thomas Mars (stylin’ lead singer, married to Sofia Coppola) headed into the front of the general admission area and sang his heart out, enjoying himself all the while:
Most satisfying!
Back home, changed quickly, and headed to make reservations at a John Besh restaurant. The interior was beautiful and the service lovely. At the time, I was on a vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, nightshade-free (checking to see how impacted joint pain) diet and they were so accommodating to adjust the vegetarian tasting menu to support my needs. One of the most incredible things they served was the amuse bouche, made from slicing the top off of an eggshell, and gently filling it with 3 layers: cauliflower souffle, curried oats and nuts, and then a cauliflower foam. I know I’m not remembering exactly, but you get the idea:
And my beautiful appetizer:
Mmmmmm. Excuse me, do you have any reservations open for one for tomorrow night?
Headed over to a small bar that night, recommended by my pal, Casey Verbeck. It was an old funky bar, that opened into a long, narrow room. Somehow, I inserted myself in about the 4th row of a crowd of smiling folks who were waiting for the singer/group to come on. Sorry, I don’t remember his name, but they were rocking. Great attitude and so fun.
A lovely gentleman asked me to dance, and surprising how well he could spin me and rock within the crush. After an hour or so, I called it a night and headed back to my hotel.