A wide view across a street lined with mule carriages to Jackson Square, with the white three-spired St. Louis Cathedral between two stately buildings and a US flag overhead. — Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral from across Decatur Street on Sunday, November 12.

Fall 2017 · Los Angeles, California, and New Orleans, Louisiana

Beignets on Jackson Square

A November week that started with a few days in Los Angeles and ended in New Orleans, with streetcars on Canal Street, Jackson Square and beignets at Café du Monde.

When: November 8–14, 2017
Route: New Orleans airport → New Orleans
Length: 7 days, 6 nights

In November 2017 we took a family trip to Los Angeles and New Orleans. We flew Southwest to Los Angeles first for a few days, then went on to New Orleans, where we had booked three nights at the Mercantile Hotel, a few blocks from the French Quarter.

New Orleans was Jackson Square and the cathedral, the giant NOLA letters, and beignets at Café du Monde.

The route

Drive Ferry Flight

1New Orleans airportNov 11–14
2New OrleansNov 11–14

Highlights. Showing 42 of 63 photos.

Day 1Wednesday, November 8

South to Los Angeles

That Wednesday evening we flew south from Sacramento, with three nights in Los Angeles ahead of us.

The practical bits Southwest from Sacramento to Los Angeles on Wednesday evening.

Day 2Thursday, November 9

Griffith Park and Glendale

Thursday in Los Angeles took us to Griffith Park in the morning and on to Glendale for lunchtime at the Americana at Brand.

Late in the afternoon the sun was low over the lawns of a city park. There were flocks of coots on the grass to run through, a Canada goose that let us come close, a pond with its fountain going, and, to finish, the monkey bars of the playground.

A girl in a purple top, seen from behind, looks out over a lawn covered in dark coots, with picnic tables, a pond and a spraying fountain beyond. — Coots as far as the pond, and the fountain going.

Two girls walk across a sunny park lawn, one in a purple top and green leggings, one in a white T-shirt, with a flock of dark birds on the grass beside them. — A sunny lawn full of coots.

A girl in a purple top runs with her arms out across a dirt path past coots, with a fountain spraying in a pond and tall trees behind. — A run past the birds, the fountain going in the pond behind.

A Canada goose sits on the grass in the foreground while a girl in purple and green crouches on the lawn behind it. — A Canada goose that didn't mind company.

Ducks swim on a blue pond ringed with white rocks and autumn-tinged trees under a blue sky with light clouds. — Ducks on the pond, ringed with white rocks.

Two girls lean their heads together beside a pond, with ducks on the water and a fountain behind them. — By the pond, the fountain behind.

A girl in a white T-shirt and black leggings reaches up to a yellow bar inside the purple arches of a playground, a green lawn behind. — Among the purple arches of the playground in the late sun.

Two girls hang from the yellow bars of a purple and yellow playground climbing frame. — The monkey bars, just before it was time to go.

Day 3Friday, November 10

An afternoon in Pasadena

After a takeout lunch on our last full day in Los Angeles, we drove up to Pasadena and walked downtown from City Hall, starting with a coffee and the plaza of Paseo Colorado with the San Gabriel Mountains faint behind it. One more stop was Kidspace, the children's museum by the Arroyo: the play garden outside, the greenhouse, the rocks and bees in the nature room, and the climbing structure indoors.

A smiling woman hugs a girl in a pink butterfly-print shirt from behind, outdoors in the sun with trees behind them. — A hug in the sun before we left for Pasadena.

A man in a dark blazer with sunglasses hooked on his shirt stands in a bright coffee shop, a large mural of coffee roasting behind the counter. — A coffee stop first.

The open-air plaza of a shopping and apartment complex with umbrellas, strings of lights and a few shoppers under a pale sky. — The plaza at Paseo Colorado, strung with lights.

A smiling man in a blue blazer stands on a busy pedestrian plaza, with faint mountains in the distance behind him. — Downtown Pasadena, with the San Gabriel Mountains faint in the distance.

In an outdoor play garden under trees, a woman with a tote bag watches as a girl in a striped shirt points at a water-play exhibit. — The play garden outside at Kidspace, with a water exhibit to point at.

A chalkboard sign reading 'Welcome to the Kidspace Greenhouse' inside a plastic-roofed greenhouse with potted plants and wooden benches. — Welcome to the Kidspace Greenhouse.

Two girls, one in a pink butterfly top and one in a striped top, stand in front of a yellow-framed glass case full of bees. — The nature room, with a beehive in the glass case.

Indoors, two girls and a woman lean over a display case with trays of rocks and specimens. — Rocks and specimens in the nature room.

Two girls climb the yellow-railed stairs of an indoor climbing structure among other families. — The line up the climbing structure indoors.

Day 4Saturday, November 11

On to New Orleans

1New Orleans airport 2New Orleans

New Orleans arrived in small pieces: a poster for Antoine's on the airport wall, the skyline ahead on the interstate at dusk, and a leather wing chair under the Mercantile's sign in the lobby. We had left Los Angeles early that Saturday and flown Southwest from LAX, landing in New Orleans late in the afternoon.

At an airport gate, a girl in a green striped top plays on a phone next to a woman, with another girl in the seat beyond and yellow barriers by the window. — At the gate at LAX, waiting for the flight to New Orleans.

An 'Arrival Times' advertisement for Antoine's Restaurant on an airport wall, showing a chandeliered dining room and a plate of seafood. — Arrival times: the first thing we saw in New Orleans.

The view through a car windshield on a highway at dusk, with a city skyline low on the horizon. — Driving in on the interstate, the skyline low on the horizon.

A girl in a green striped top and leopard leggings sits in a brown leather wing chair beneath a framed sign reading The Mercantile Hotel New Orleans. — In the lobby of the Mercantile, under its sign.

The first night, though, we slept at the Drury Inn & Suites on Poydras Street, about a kilometer from the Mercantile. After dark we set out on foot past the lit front of Factors Row on Perdido Street, along Canal Street, where a red streetcar stood at its stop, and down Chartres Street past the Pharmacy Museum to Café du Monde, every table full. Across the street, St. Louis Cathedral glowed behind the gates of Jackson Square, hung with big red bows, and the giant NOLA 300 letters stood empty on the steps by the river.

A glowing blue rooftop pool at night beside brick hotel walls with arched windows, a child standing by the steps. — The rooftop pool at the Drury, lit blue.

Looking down an ornate double staircase with iron railings into a hotel lobby with tall columns and a chandelier. — The double staircase down into the Drury's lobby.

The tall facade of the Factors Row building at night, washed in orange uplighting, with an iron balcony along its lower floor. — Factors Row on Perdido Street, lit up.

A red streetcar with 'Canal' on its sign glows at its stop at night, with hotel lights and parked cars behind. — A red streetcar on Canal Street.

Gold lettering reading New Orleans Pharmacy Museum on a paned window, with old apothecary jars and dried herbs behind the glass. — The window of the Pharmacy Museum on Chartres Street.

Café du Monde's green-and-white striped awning lit up at night, with the open-air tables full of people. — Café du Monde, every table full.

A white cathedral lit at night behind iron gates hung with big red bows, palms on either side and a white carriage passing in front. — St. Louis Cathedral behind the Jackson Square gates and their red bows.

Giant white 'NOLA 300' letters lit at night on stone steps, with an iron railing and trees behind. — The NOLA 300 letters, empty at night.

The practical bits Southwest from LAX to New Orleans. Three nights booked at the Mercantile Hotel on South Peters Street, in the Warehouse District.

Day 5Sunday, November 12

Jackson Square and beignets

2New Orleans

Sunday was the day to remember. It began with breakfast at the Drury, coffee in paper cups, and a picture in its courtyard. We walked down Canal Street, where the streetcars run between the palms, and into the French Quarter by Chartres Street, where an old Spanish tile still reads Calle de Chartres. Then came Jackson Square: the Pontalba arcade, the paintings the artists hang on the iron fence, and the rim of the fountain in front of St. Louis Cathedral, its gates still in their red bows.

A man in a checked shirt sits with his arm around a girl at a table in a hotel breakfast room, paper cups in front of them. — Breakfast at the Drury, paper cups all round.

A man in a checked shirt stands with two girls holding snacks and a cup on a brick courtyard, a Drury Inn & Suites sign behind them. — Breakfast in hand, outside the Drury Inn & Suites.

Two red streetcars come down the palm-lined middle of Canal Street on a sunny morning, the palms wrapped in holiday garlands. — Streetcars between the palms on Canal Street, wrapped in holiday garlands.

A blue-and-yellow tile plaque with a Spanish coat of arms reading Calle de Chartres, 1762-1803, on a plaster wall. — Calle de Chartres, from the years New Orleans was Spanish.

A woman and two girls pose on flagstones under a long arcade with iron galleries above, street vendors and passers-by around them. — Under the Pontalba arcade.

Brightly colored paintings of dogs, giraffes and an elephant hang on an iron fence and stand on easels on the flagstones. — Dogs, giraffes and an elephant on the fence of Jackson Square.

A woman and two girls sit on the rim of a fountain in front of the white, three-spired St. Louis Cathedral under a bright blue sky, red bows on the gates. — On the rim of the fountain, the cathedral behind.

A bronze equestrian statue on a granite base, with the white three-spired cathedral behind a garden and palm trees under a blue sky. — Andrew Jackson and the three spires of St. Louis Cathedral.

Beignets at Café du Monde came next. Just across Decatur Street, at the foot of the steps up to Washington Artillery Park, stood the giant NOLA letters put up for the city's three-hundredth birthday. We took turns posing in them, and from the railing at the top we took a picture of all of us with the cathedral behind.

Inside a busy café under ceiling fans, a girl in a purple top sits at a marble table with a coffee cup and a plate dusted with powdered sugar. — Inside Café du Monde, the plate already down to sugar.

A girl in a grey jacket holds a powdered-sugar beignet in both hands at a café table. — A beignet, held in both hands.

A man in a checked shirt stands in front of the green-and-white Café du Monde awning with a girl in purple hugging his side. — In front of the café's green-and-white awning.

A woman sits on the '3' and two girls sit inside the two zeros of giant white 'NOLA 300' letters in front of a stone wall. — The NOLA 300 letters, a seat in each zero and one on the 3.

A man leans on the '3' while two girls sit inside the zeros of the giant 'NOLA 300' letters. — Then another turn at the 3.

A man, a woman and two girls stand at a black iron railing, with Jackson Square and the cathedral's spires behind them. — All of us at the railing above Decatur Street, the cathedral behind.

That afternoon we moved into the Mercantile, where the room came with a record player. Back in the French Quarter we found candy apples in a shop window, iron galleries at the corner of Conti Street, a menu done in crayon, a rack of Mardi Gras beads, and a shared cup of gelato at Sucré beside its long counter of macarons. We walked back at dusk along Canal Street past the Palace Café.

In a warm-lit hotel room, a girl kneels on a sofa with a vinyl record beside her and a small record player on the side table. — A record player in our room at the Mercantile.

A woman and two girls walk along a sidewalk past a café's outdoor tables, with palms and a large casino building behind. — On the walk back to the Quarter.

Trays of glossy red candy apples and caramel apples on sticks behind a shop window. — Candy apples in a shop window.

A salmon-colored building with a long lacy iron gallery hung with ferns at a French Quarter street corner. — Iron galleries and hanging ferns at the corner of Conti Street.

A woman and two girls in matching grey jackets bend over a kids' menu with crayons at a dark wooden restaurant table. — Crayons out, and a menu to color in.

Racks of Mardi Gras bead necklaces with sports-team medallions in a souvenir shop. — Mardi Gras beads with a team for everyone.

A narrow palm-lined passage with café tables, string lights and a Pelican Club sign at dusk. — Exchange Place and the Pelican Club as the lights came on.

A woman and two girls walk along a long glass counter of macarons and chocolates in a bright sweets shop. — Along the counter at Sucré.

Two girls share a cup of orange gelato at a small white table by a shop window. — One cup of gelato, two spoons.

A long lit building with iron galleries glows under a deep blue dusk sky, with cars parked along the street. — Back through the Quarter at dusk.

A restaurant's bright marquee reading Palace Café above sidewalk tables on a city street at night. — The Palace Café on Canal Street, on the way back to the hotel.

Day 6Monday, November 13

The Riverwalk, and more beignets

2New Orleans

Monday began with the sun coming up over the Warehouse District rooftops. Then we found the Riverwalk, the outlet mall along the Mississippi, with a sunny terrace over the river and a big paddle-wheeler tied up at the wharf below.

Early sun lights low brick rooftops and the downtown towers beyond under a pale sky. — Sunrise over the Warehouse District.

Two girls in matching grey jackets pose in a long, covered walkway with steel columns and glass walls. — The covered walkway at the Riverwalk.

At lunchtime there was a break in the suite, and in the afternoon we returned to the Riverwalk and found its own branch of Café du Monde, for more beignets.

Two girls in grey jackets stand on a sunny terrace with tables, the wide Mississippi River and a distant bridge behind them. — On the terrace over the Mississippi.

A large white paddle-wheel riverboat with twin black smokestacks docked at a wharf on a wide river under a blue sky. — A paddle-wheeler tied up at the wharf.

A girl sits cross-legged on the sofa of a hotel suite, a jacket piled on the ottoman beside her. — Back in the suite at lunchtime.

A girl in a grey jacket stands on a paved plaza, with a blue Riverwalk Outlet Collection sign behind her. — At the Riverwalk sign.

A girl stands at the railing of a Café du Monde counter-service café inside a shopping mall, under its striped awning. — Café du Monde's branch inside the Riverwalk.

A girl sits behind a green tray of powdered-sugar beignets and a café au lait cup at a round table. — More beignets.

Looking down from a walkway over a parking lot and rail tracks toward the Riverwalk building and downtown towers at dusk. — The downtown towers from the Riverwalk as the day ended.

Day 7Tuesday, November 14

Two flights home

2New Orleans 1New Orleans airport

We flew home the long way, as booked: Southwest from New Orleans into Los Angeles, a few hours' wait, and on to Sacramento.

The practical bits Checked out of the Mercantile and left for the airport early. About three hours between flights in Los Angeles; landed in Sacramento late in the afternoon and were home by early evening.