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| Coffee and Beignets |
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| Cafe du Monde |
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| Nasty table at Cafe du Monde and trust me, there were tons of dirty tables just like this one. Most of the birds looked sick or sticky, we couldn't decide on which..... Plenty of "staff" just no one wanted to work! |
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| Key Lime Pie at the Rip Van Winkle Garden restaurant |
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| Avery Island |
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| WW2 Museum |
It all started because I kept thinking about the Cafe du Monde in Jackson Square and how I wished I had one of their coffees and a beignet (french donut). SO, I made reservations at the Embassy Hotel, by the river, and off we went. On our Southern route we had a chance to stop in New Iberia, LA. and visit with an old friend (Debra Aucoin, in photo with my hubby, Larry) we hadn't seen in 25 or 30 years. Fun visit...then off we went to continue our journey to New Orleans and all our fond memories of the first time we visited....We got to go to Avery Island where they make the world famous Tabasco Sauce...We got to see the Rip Van Winkle Gardens(New Iberia)...We toured the WorldWar2 Museum which we enjoyed...and yes, we finally got to the Cafe du Monde (New Orleans) to try and repeat our first visit....waiters with the white towel over their forearms, a hint of a french accent to their voices...a Cajun world of sounds and aromas. Disappointment...to the extreme. Chinese waiters or Vietnamese...kids actually. See the photo with the green chalkboard? See the floor? See the white stuff on the floor? Powdered sugar...everything is covered in it! The kid took our order for coffees and beignets...when it arrived at our table, he slammed it down and left to go sit down, reach in his pocket and pull out a huge wad of money, and started counting it. There were about six or seven "waiters" sitting down...laughing, one girl laying her head in another waiter's lap making a few inappropriate movements in his lap...I'm not a prude but REALLY??? Larry and I were just stunned at the place...Powdered sugar was so thick on the floor that we began looking around for water hoses on the walls...we found none! Pigeons were Everywhere on the uncleaned tables. Jackson Square wasn't any better. Just Nasty, nasty, nasty. We were just, sick! I had reservations to stay in town for two days....When we got back to the hotel, we cancelled the second night, got up the next morning and made it home in about eight hours. Larry said, and I believe him now, some memories are best left in the past...you can rarely go back.
Our beautiful "old South" is dissolving into something we just don't recognize. Since Katrina, nothing is the same...Some may argue with me but I'm old enough to remember the days when people gave a "hoot". Nowadays, the spoiled kids seem to care less...just show them the money....ok, I'm done.
Well, guess I'll quit boring you...Hope you all managed to survive without me. I'll be popping over to visit soon so don't think I've dropped off the face of the Earth...See you in a bit!
11 comments:
Sad it wasn't the same. Open air invites the birds however and one needs to keep that clean to avoid droppings on patrons. . Think I would have sent it back and tried somewhere else. Avery sounds fun, I use a lot of their product for years.
Yes, that is a shame and I would have left too. And I'm pretty sure you didn't leave him a tip to add to his wad of money, right? I wouldn't have. So sorry that it's not the same. It has been quite a few years since I've been there.....almost 20. May take your advice and never go back. What a shame it is that way.
You are not boring me for sure, only making me very sad. The place looks so bad, with that pigeon looking sick with his foot in the sugar. They are likely all sick from eating the spilled sugar. People used to take such pride in their work...not anymore. No, you can't go back. But maybe you can both find a new place to get away to and make new memories there.
What a disappointment for you guys. I will blame some absentee management. When the boss is away ...
what a shame that it wasn't like you remembered. It sounds like it was heavenly when you first went there. These days it's hard to find good workers anywhere and customer service is fast becoming a thing of the past
Well, that's terrible. I'm sorry it wasn't as you guys remembered it. Everything is changing, everywhere.
Please let ME know when you're going out of town; yes, I survived but barely. :)
xoxo
No problem on the rant! As a fellow traveler, I like to call it as I see it too. And if a place doesn't measure up (or does!), then it is good to get the word out! I participate in TripAdvisor and regularly rate and comment on properties that we visit. I've given high marks and praise to some and the raspberries to the places that aren't worthy of our hard-earned money.
I'm not surprised that New Orleans has gone downhill. But I hope you enjoyed the Tabasco factory! We enjoyed our visit there about 20 years ago, and I remember that you could smell the peppers from about 10 miles away, LOL!
That is just not right !! What is our world coming to !! I have had it for sloppy and unclean places. I just don't go back and this now counts for the place that I get my nails done. I am a good tipper, too. Love the key lime pie !! :) That was my dad's favorite and it mine, too.
xoxo
Oh, Miss Donna~ I LOVED your pictures and you are such a beautiful lady!!! But sorry about your bad experience at the cafe... sadly, times do change and mostly not for the better, I'm afraid!! Glad you had a good time other than that.... but don't you go running off like that again! *bwahahaha* (HUGS)
Ah, this makes me sad. Cafe du Monde is one of TG's and my favorite places. We haven't been there since the late '90s. I remember the sticky-footed pigeons and, naturally, powdered sugar everywhere, but
i don't recall it being filthy and nasty. Such a shame! What a charming place it once was.
About New Iberia ... my cousin Jeff and his wife live in a painstakingly restored old house on Main Street in NILA ... I wish I'd known you were going. Jeff's a love and he would have enjoyed meeting you.
It's sad when favorite places change so much. Maybe it's time to find some wonderful new places to explore and enjoy! There must still be places somewhere, where people care about service and behave as if they want repeat customers. So sorry it was such a disappointment...
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