Tis Me Michelle

In between the one big trip I try to plan each year, I try to do a bunch of small weekend trips throughout the year. Shorter trips can be budget-friendly given some flexibility. Also, I find it gives me something to forward to throughout the year. One of my favorite weekend trips so far has been to New Orleans, Louisiana!

Something you’ll learn pretty quickly about me is that I am highly food motivated. Paris = pastries, bread, coffee. New Orleans = good southern food and BEIGNETS. Yes, my main reason to go to NOLA was to finally try those famous Cafe Du Monde beignets. And let me tell you, they did not disappoint. There are some things that get hyped up so much it ends up being a disappointment. A light, fluffy, doughy cloud of powdered sugar delight is surely not one of them. I had an order of beignets each day of my 4-day long weekend. Should have I of? No. Did I? Yes! #YOLO

Enough about beignets you say? Fine! There was great food nearly everywhere. Aside from beignets, the foodie/architecture standout for me was Cavan. I found it while researching before my trip and knew I had to go. We stopped in for happy hour drinks and appetizers. The restaurant is a transformed old-school, classic New Orleans style mansion. It’s romantic and kinda witch-y at the same time? That vibe, the drinks and all the food I had, so worth it! On your way there you get to see the beautiful architecture of the city and then you are basically in a cute strip of other stores and restaurants.

I could probably go on for hours on the food alone, cause I loved it so much. A few quick shoutouts to some notable places to stop by: Tea Witch Cafe, Carousel Bar, Bearcat Cafe & Seed. I travelled with my friend who was vegan, so the latter two were great for her! Side note for another day: I am on a slow and gradual vegan journey. Beignets are not vegan :(

Going to museums are my jam, especially art museums. So that was a definite stop. We also went to the WWII museum. They were both worthwhile and if you have the time check it out! Definitely do them on separate days! It’s a lot of ground to cover for one day. Something for you art junkie’s, you can even go and find an original Banksy! That was a neat little gem we found out we could do while we were in town.

What else made NOLA a great place for a quick getaway? There was no shortage of great fun! But also felt no pressure to get it all done. Do what peaks your interest and enjoy your time there. As mentioned above, I love architecture. Simply walking and driving through the city was beautiful. We went out downtown and did the whole Bourbon St. thing. Then the next night we slept in instead of going out to Frenchmen Street.

Such a vibrant city with endless things to do and places to eat! I definitely want to go back sometime… Maybe one year for Mardi Gras or for their annual VooDoo Fest! There are quite a few things I haven’t gotten to do and a bunch more beignets left to eat!

Have you ever been to NOLA? What were your favorite spots? Let me know in the comments!

Til next time…

Au Revoir