There was a long line out the door when we went to check it out, so chose another less crowded cafe on a street in the French Quarter to taste the wares ... definitely try one, Lu. They are delicious
When we first moved to Nola, we live in Algiers Point, just across the river from the French Quarter. On Sunday mornings, we would take the free ferry (is it still free?) from Algiers over to the quarter and have breakfast at Cafe du Monde. I often took my dog with us and we'd sit outside, read the paper, drink coffee, have breakfast, people watch, while my dog would eat beignets. She loved the beignets! We'd have to pay for our food but the servers would give our dog free food. It got to the point that every time we'd get off the ferry in the quarter, she'd head for the cafe. After we had eaten, we'd walk around the quarter. It was such a nice way to spend a Sunday morning. I'd definitely recommend a walking tour of the quarter.
--a little trivia--
The Mississippi river, where it makes that sharp bend between the quarter and Algiers Point is the deepest part of the river. Water flows downstream on the quarter's side (east bank of the river), but the water flows upstream on the Algier's side, (west bank). It's kind of has a large whirlpool effect. And due to all the ocean-going ships that load cargo in the New Orleans-Baton Rouge area, they have to maintain a 46 foot draft down the river at the "Head of Passes" (where the river empties into the gulf). This mean that the vessels can load enough cargo so there is 46 feet from the bottom of their hull to their water line. In this lower part of the river, the Head of Passes is the lowest part. And the river doesn't have a solid bottom, it's kind of mud-like that gets thicker the deeper it goes. Sometimes this mud breaks off from the bottom and rolls down river along the bottom.
end of trivia---
About once a month, a group of us would make reservations at various restaurants for a Saturday night and restaurants-hop. We'd go to one for appetizers, another for the main course, and a third for dessert. It was sort of a common thing that a lot of local folks did. We'd go to all the restaurants already mentioned, but I remember going to "The Court of Two Sisters" in the quarter for drinks, either before of after dinner, and I really enjoyed their brunches. This was during my Bon Vivant period of life. About the only restaurant we didn't go to was Paul Prudhomme's place in the quarter. He was just getting famous for his blackened redfish, and the locals considered his place tourist food. If you wanted good redfish, go up to his sister's restaurant in Oppalousus (up in Cajun country). Now, dat's some kind a good eatin, cher! I was up there one time and was sitting at a table next to these two old boys talking to each other, and was trying to figure out what language the were speaking. It kind of sounded like a combination of French and Spanish with a little English thrown in. Then I realized they were speaking Cajun French. I was listening to 18th century French!
We lived in NOLA for about year then moved to Mandeville, on the north shore of lake Pontchartrain. We drove over the bridge from Metarie to Madeville every day, and for a while it was the world's longest bridge. It was a really nice place to live, far enough from the city so you didn't share their problems, but close enough to do a daily commuter. It's grown quite a bit now from when we lived there. The north shore, and the towns of Mandeville, Covington and Madisonville were settled by the wealthier families (pre-Civil War), from NOLA who would live there in the summer to avoid the Yellow Fever outbreaks that occurred in NOLA. There are many beautiful older homes in the older parts of those towns and along the lake. We lived in an Arcadian-style home, kind of a simple, cabin-like home with huge windows and an over-sized roof. They look small from the outside but their pretty big on the inside. The house was across a road from an outlet to a bayou, and in the spring you would lie in bed at night and hear the alligator's grunt out their mating calls.
Ok, I've got stuff to do, but this thread has brought up some good, 35 year old memories. My thanks to everyone.