The Big Easy, December 2017, Part Two

It was warm the evening before, when we arrived, and this day turned out downright hot! We were walking around in t-shirts and sweated!

This morning we just took off on foot to see what we could see. Which was a lot! 

Did we love it? Yes!

The French Market

The wonderful New Orleans balconies

A paddlewheel boat. Looks like it would be fun.

I brought my own "Bad Boy" with me!

No, I did not buy this t-shirt.

We had our first highlight of our trip that evening: Dinner at Antoine's. It opened in 1840 and is the oldest family-run restaurant in New Orleans. This was my third time there.

It is much more formal than our usual choice of restaurants, and the food is French/New Orleans. Which means outstanding! And we had a very special meal: Revéillon, a multi-course dinner served traditionally on Christmas Eve and/or New Year's Eve.

I no longer remember what we ate, but all four courses were truly outstanding. We debated whether we would walk home or simply roll along the sidewalk!

The next morning we talk a very long walk along the waterfront to the Audubon Aquarium. Great fun as always. 

Fascinating to watch the diver feed the rays!

From there it was on to the neighboring outlet mall, how convenient!

These are pillows, and I wish I had bought one!

We ate lunch at the food court and then trekked back to the hotel. We took a wrong turn at some point and ended up walking much further than needed.

Dinner came from the grocery store again. We decided to alternate dining in and dining out, if we ate out every day for dinner (as well as lunch) we would have to buy all new clothes to fit into.

The Big Easy, December 2017

In December 2017 we visited the most magical city I know -- New Orleans. I had visited three times before (one business trip and two times with a girlfriend), and was eager to show Norbert how wonderful it is.

How did our visit come about? Well, in September 2016, I attended my 45th high school reunion, and spent a lot of time with Sudee Sweeney, who I had known since junior high. She lives in Slidell, Louisiana. In January 2017, Norbert and I spent a week or so in Panama City Beach, Florida, on the Gulf Coast. Sudee suggested we meet for lunch halfway and we did so. She invited us to come visit sometime, so we did!

We flew on, I believe, a Monday, arriving in the late afternoon. The man at Immigration asked if we were both retired, so we must have looked quite tired! We didn't need a car in the city, and wouldn't have wanted to pay the outrageous fees for parking anyway, so we took a shuttle to our hotel. We ended up being the last ones off, so we got to see much of the city and French Quarter.

We stayed at the Place d'Armes, where I had stayed before. One advantage is its location, on St. Ann Street, literally only steps away from Jackson Square, the heart of the French Quarter. But what makes it so magical is the atmosphere. It consists of several old houses converted to a hotel, with the obligatory courtyard. 

We had a room on an upper floor, overlooking the courtyard. The room itself was nothing particular, but had everything needed. The included breakfast was literally just pastries and coffee.

That evening we walked a few blocks to Rouse's Market, a small grocery store I remembered from earlier visits. We bought beer, water, and something to eat. 

Arcen, Netherlands, September 2025, Part Two

 The weather seemed to be against us much of the time, but we took advantage of one nice day to drive about 20 minutes south to Venlo, the closest big city. And we loved it!

We parked at the central underground parking garage, right in the middle of the city center. First stop was an outdoor market area with all kinds of things, including eggs and cheese.

For non-German speakers, this sign says Uncle Jacob has the biggest eggs in Venlo, (Uncle Jacob being the owner of the booth). "Eier" (eggs) is slang for testicles.

We took a nice long walk down the street -- purely pedestrian zone, how lovely -- and saw all kinds of things.

"9 out of 20 love chocolate, and the tenth one is lying."

The City Hall was built between 1597 and 1601. It is a national memorial

And given my professional background, this statement on the pavement of the pedestrian zone nautrally caught my attention. "Stores open, cyclists walk".

Arcen, Netherlands, September 2025

We decided to get away for a few days, and chose a new (to us) place in the Netherlands. The Resort Arcen is in North Limburg, about an hour drive, and practically on the German border. In fact, the closest stores were in Germany (although we drove a bit further and hit the Dutch shops, always a pleasure.)

It is in fact a relatively large park, with, as far as I could tell, few amenities or attractions.

The house we had selected had definite advantages. The living area was wonderful. There were two bedrooms, each with a full bath, although the bedrooms were small. There was also a half bath. The biggest advantage was the hedge surrounding the patio area, so that Anton could run there freely. There was parking for one car directly at the house, with the other parking place about a 30 second walk away.

The living area was modern and light. 

We even had a little visitor!

Anton felt right at home. 

One night we picked up pizza for dinner from the park restaurant, and it was truly outstanding.

Norbert and Lucas explored the area with Anton. 

There was no view to speak of from the house, because of the hedge, but we did get some sunset colours.

Hard to tell from those photos, but on the whole the weather was not cooperative with our plans to be out and about, a situation which unfortunately lasted the whole autumn.

We hit the two big Netherlands supermarket chains, Albert Hein and Jumbo. Nice to find some familiar products.