so, gentle reader...
we took a little detour
on our way back home from Oklahoma
visiting our family...
and stopped
for the afternoon in
New Orleans...
 |
| I adored this fence, rusty, thick and chunky Fleurs, what is not to love about that? |
it was a destination that I had always wanted to see...
Mr. La Dolce Vita had been there on business and promised to take me one day..
knowing that I am lover of crumbling splendor
and aged places..
 |
| Chained shut and definitely overgrown... |
of antiques and good food...
it was a perfect little side trip...
I had imagined New Orleans as a
romantic city of French Creole, filigree wrought iron balconies...
and of course there is that, and though I did shoot a few of those...
 |
| St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter... spectacular old worlde architecture... |
what really captured my curiosity were all the private gardens...
with fountains and lush with exotic plants and flowers...
 |
| Charming antique store with a lovely courtyard.. |
they beckon..
invite, and who can resist the notion
of a
secret garden?
living inside...
out...
sitting in the sun each morning with a cafe au lait?
Hurricane Katrina left her mark for sure,
but the French Quarter was spared..
not unharmed
but not completely devastated either...
there is a lot of new building and many businesses are
still rebuilding but it is ever gorgeous...
and life will not be stopped...
it squirts from cracks in stones and takes over gardens...
I felt at home there,
the city of Fleur De Lys
in fact I was wearing my fleur charm as we
drove into town...
there were less tourists
since we visited on a weekday..
and the weather was spectacular...
sunny and bright, but the sting removed from the sun
as summer gives way to fall, even here in the south...
and as a tree lover, I was stunned by the size and majesty of the
Live Oaks...
sheltering and far reaching..
but ....dear reader,
the secret gardens won my heart...
they are my one weakness...
wink..
xo
