New Orleans/FL Trip (Day 12) - New Orleans

It was very cold and still raining when we departed by tour bus at 9:00 am this morning for the plantation tours, It rained very hard all last night, but we missed the sleet and snow just to the north of us. We were to tour two antebellum mansions on the Mississippi River, not far from New Orleans.

The first plantation we visited was "San Francisco" in Garyville, LA about 40 minutes west of New Orleans along the Mississippi River. The plantation home was built in 1856 and was the centerpiece of a French sugar cane family business. The mansion, restored and subsidized by the Marathon Oil Co., is now operated as a tourist attraction and venue for parties, weddings, etc. by the non-profit San Francisco Plantation Foundation. The plantation house was originally named Sans Frusquin, a name derived from a French slang phrase meaning, "without a penny in my pocket", in reference to the high construction costs at the time. They have done a nice job on the restoration.

San Francisco Plantation House


Our tour guide

A fancy chamber pot
Plantation buildings

We then went to another nearby French sugar cane plantation, "Destrehan". This plantation has also been fully restored (by Amoco Oil Co.) and is a National Historic Landmark. This tour was probably a little better than the first, but both were interesting. Apparently, there was a good market for sugar cane before the Civil War, which our tour guide jokingly kept referring to as the War of Northern Aggression. The plantation owners made a lot of money and the lifestyle on the plantations seems to have been pretty good for the owners. Of course, plantation worker labor costs in the area were fairly low at the time. After the second tour, we had a buffet lunch in Laplace, LA, another river town west of New Orleans. We arrived back at the RV park about 3:30 pm and rested before the formal Bal Masque dinner and tableau. The rain had finally stopped but it was still overcast, cold, and windy.





A water cistern that supplied water to the house now houses a elevator to the second floor

Our tour guide

marbel bathtub


The Bal Masque was interesting and a little strange. It was a dress-up affair with a catered dinner in the University of New Orleans arena. There was also a New Orleans jazz band and open bar. After dinner the Krewe of Carrolton, a local group that runs one of the Mardi Gras parades, preformed their "Tableau". Hard to describe, the tableau consisted of the narrated and musical entry into the arena of a king and queen with their court of of attendants and princesses, all in very elaborate and beautiful costumes. They came in individually, did a procession as a group to music, then posed for pictures with the audience. The Krewe's theme this year is "Its a Small World', and each princess was dressed to represent a different continent or country. Each costume is hand made each year, and is only worn once or twice during Mardi Gras. It appears to be a very expensive proposition to be a member of a krewe, as each member pays for his/her own costume and a share of krewe expenses. No sponsors or advertising is allowed. I guess you have to be from here to understand it all.



The Krewe Capatin
The caribeen princess

The king
The queen

The Carribean, Irish, and Egyptian princesses
The African and British princesses
Tomorrow we visit a couple of museums downtown- Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World and the Presbtyre, the State of Louisiana's Mardi Gras Museum. We may also have a little free time in the French Quarter before the bus takes us back to the RV Park. The Quarter will be mobbed, since this is the big weekend before Fat Tuesday, the last day before the beginning of Lent. Tonight is Cajun Night with a Cajun dinner and band in the arena.