Fri - Mardi Gras World, Cooking School & French Quarter

It was a little hard getting up this morning but we did - and the day was great.  First stop was mardi Gras World where we had a short movie, a piece of King Cake and a tour of the plant.  This particular company makes about 80 % of the mardi gras floats as well as floats used at Universal Studios and some advertisement for other companies.

Just like the Rose Parade, themes and float designs are worked on a year or two in advance.  Some props are able to be used again by just making a few changes - this company has been recycling for over 50 years!

The designs and figurines are either made of Styrofoam or fiberglass or paper.  The styrofoam is layered, carved and covered with paper mache (sp?) before it is painted.  Some of the flowers are just two layers of poster board supported by wire in between the layers.

After our tour we had a little time to look in the gift shop and I bought an alligator hat!  I will have to have Gary take my picture so I can put it on the blog.

The cooking school we went to was in the middle of the French Quarter.  They had 3 classes going at once!

Our chef was Harriet and she was really entertaining while she taught us 4 recipes which we had to eat for lunch.  She is 70 years old and was born and raised in New Orleans.  She was a Creole and showed us how to make some typical creole dishes.

As she taught us each dish she then had some assistants bring it to our tables.  Our class had some people with food allergies so she made 3 variations of each main dish so that we could all eat.  The menu included corn & crab bisque,  craw fish etoufee, pecan pralines & bananas foster.  Gary's favorite was the corn & crab bisque, mine was the pecan pralines!

Boy, was the French Quarter getting busy.  I am told it will be wall to wall people by Sunday and I believe it.  Today was the day that the Krewe of Hermes will be holding their parade.  They have a tradition of holding their own walking parade after lunch on the day of the regular parade.  (I can explain more, if needed). Some of them lined the balconies before they gathered for the parade and threw beads to the people below.

Another parade that we found coming down the street was the "Divas."  Let's just say that their outfits seemed to get more revealing than what we are used to.

I know I have their backs to us, but I wanted to let you get the sense of how busy the streets were getting.

This band was just setting up when we were walking by.  They reminded me of the hillbilly's - washboard, fiddle, bass made from string and box (left), etc.  They did make nice music!!

Anyway, the men (doctors, lawyers, businessmen, etc) are all dressed up in suits and ties and make an impressive group as they go forth for the Hermes parade.  They had beads and other stuff to hand out as they walked the parade route.  There was a little girl about 4 years old next to me and most gave something to her as they came by.

I liked the man in the kilt!  Even though the city is mostly creole or cajun, there are a few other nationalities that have come in.

This is not the most flattering picture, but it shows how many beads can be collected in a parade.  I will sort through the ones we have and only keep the special ones.  Others might be given to a group of disabled citizens to clean and recycle for next year.
I forgot to add something to the Thursday blog - I caught a shoe!!!  During the Muses parade (all women) last night I caught a shoe that they threw.  It is a special favor that not many have a chance to get and apparently is sought after.  I don't know how one shoe in a size I can't wear will benefit me but I guess I should cherish it as it is a unique gift!!!
Tomorrow we have the morning off and will not leave for the city until 4 pm to see one of the most popular parades (Endymion) - from a reserved viewing stand.  As long as the severe thunderstorms that are predicted will go through in the morning it should be okay.  Otherwise, they may cancel the parade and add the Endymion Krewe to Sunday's schedule.  I can't believe how tired you can get by "watching" parades!!!!