Off to Louisiana for Spring Break!

Spring Break is almost over and Ryan and I needed to go somewhere authentic so we would have interesting stories to share about our week off. So it was off to New Orleans for us!

Here we are on the airplane. Ryan and I each had an aisle seat, but this fella (he asked us to call him Dubuya) offered the window seat if I could beat him in an arm wrestle. So I arm wrestled "Dubuya" for the window seat and felt kind of bad that I was beating him, so I let him win. Thank goodness I gave him the window seat, he looked out the window the whole time!

This is New Orleans from the air:

Here we are going across the Greater New Orleans bridge!

We made it off that great bridge and got a classic shot of a sax player.

We wanted to get to our hotel first and decided on this 5 star hotel called Place D'Arms. We loved to see the maple leaf flying outside and felt very welcomed.

This gentleman was our bell boy and he kept calling me "dawlin." I wanted to try my New Orleans accent on him so I said, "Well, don’t you look prettier than a glob of butter melting on a stack of wheat cakes!"

It became an awkward moment so we tipped him and he muttered something about 'death and taxes, an odd pairing.' Speaking of odd, this buddy was a wee bit odd...cute, but odd.

It was off to Bourbon Street to see the town!

As we were touring the streets, we saw a little goat just sitting there. Absolutely no idea why this little goat was copping a squat. Ryan and I decided we needed to help this furry friend out.

So we found a police officer and asked him to help the lost goat. He smiled and said "What do you want me to do dawlin', I am on a horse for goodness sakes!"

We actually did not know what to do, so decided to go on one of these street tours to get away from the goat.

Hey peeps! This is my first time on one of these things! Everybody say "Bourbon!"

Then to the cemeteries, because that is what people like to see when they go to New Orleans (apparently).

It gave us the creeps and we were in die-er need of some food, so we went back to Bourbon Street where it was a bit more lively.

People were making sandwiches on the street and they asked us: "Ya want ya po boy dressed?" This means would I want lettuce, pickles and tomatoes on it? So I answered in my best "Nawlins" accent, " Ya, n I want some maa naise on ma sanwich too." I think I sounded cool.

Our evening ended with a little bit of a party and people kept tossing beads at each other. It was a little bit too crazy for us. We thought it best to call it a night and went back to our hotel.

We would be leaving for home in a few hours. It was a quick trip, but we now have some pretty great stories to tell when we go to work on Monday. It will take me a while to talk in my normal Canadian way eh. I wonder if anyone will notice my southern accent?

Paris in under 24 hours...I had to work Monday

This is what Paris, France looks like from the air.

I rented a car and as I got to the capital city (Paris) the streets became very narrow and it was busy so I was using my best defensive driving ever! (it was just a quick snapshot...I was going pretty slow)

I took a quick pic of the street signs too! (still incredibly narrow streets and not too much time to spare cuz my flight left in under 24 hours...it was all “go, go, go..”)

I took a quick pic of this fella as he looked very “French” to me. I especially loved his turquoise blue bike chain. I hollered a quick “Bonjour” to him, which is why he stopped and raised his visor glasses. *shrug*

This was classic and made me chuckle. These people were actually moving their stuff up and down a ladder. Happy moving! I bet their day was filled with awesome (I know mine was!).

Then of course saw the Eiffel Tower, which was my whole inspiration for this trip.

So I took a few snapshots of this amazing structure.

And I saw this guy juggling right in front of the Eiffel Tower and I LOVED it, so I asked him if he minded me taking his picture: “Puis-je prendre ton pictre?” That is French for “May I take your picture?” He replied, “Oui (sounds like Wii) ”...which is “YES!”
...So say "fromage" French juggling guy!”

Of course, once I saw the restaurants, or “bistros,” my stomach started to growl, so I stopped and grabbed a bite to eat at this bar, I mean bistro.

This was the menu (I had the “soupe” which is French for “soup”). I felt like I was picking up the language pretty fast...

And of course I had some “chocolate”! (chocolate is actually chocolate).

Oh time was running out so I jetted to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. She was still smirking. I couldn’t take her picture as it was not allowed (the flash ruins the painting over time....I guess?)

I had to see that Eiffel Tower one last time before I got back on that airplane and so I drove all the way back to it and got the most beautiful pic! It was perfect! (just my lucky day I guess!)

Well that was it for me. Back to the airport to catch my flight!

Here we are leaving Paris:

Wait! I mean, there is a plane travelling beside my plane....