Favorite Cities: New Orleans in springtime

 NoLa garden in March- A recent visit (spring break in Texas, mid-march) to NoLa was restorative and fun. Spring is the best time to visit New Orleans if you don't enjoy hot humid weather and crowds. Summers are typically in the 90'sF with 100% humidity, autumn can be nice (but no flowers are blooming), winters are mild and sunny (but I'd avoid Mardi Gras season unless you specifically want to spend days in a nightmarish mosh pit of drunken revelry).

Jackson Square- New Orleans is one of the oldest cities in America, along with Boston, St Augustine, and San Antonio. Originally settled by French explorers and later reinforced by French Acadians from Canada, NoLa retains a hybrid French- American culture found no where else.

Back of the cathedral-This translates into liveable, walkable city blocks in the old French Quarter that feel like Paris, combined with southern American building materials and styles. Thick walls for a hot climate, colors derived from local materials, architectural elements harkening back to a remembered homeland.

Brennan's Restaurant - This lovely pinkish color comes from using native adobe/terra cotta, derived from local soils, and diluting it with white clay, to make paint.

Riverboat Natchez - A wonderful way to spend a lazy afternoon