Mardi Gras Preview (Part I)

Inside the Rex Den

Mardi Gras Day is about two weeks away.  If you don't live in Louisiana, you may not know that.  This morning, three of the bigger carnival crews opened their dens to the public and Frau Schmitt thought it would be nice to spend our morning looking over this year's floats.  She is usually right about these things, so I agreed.

What follows is pretty much a photo essay of some of what we saw in the Rex Den.  I'm going to have to break this into sections because, frankly, the panoply of subject matter is a bit overwhelming.  

The theme for Rex's parade this year is "Royal Gardens."  I don't remember which float is supposed to represent what royal garden.  After going to three of these warehouses, each bigger and noisier than the last, it all became a happily dizzy blur.

Another float in the Rex Den

I'm going to take a stab at this one and say it represents Versailles.

Another float in the Rex Den

Another float in the Rex Den

Another float in the Rex Den

Is this Shakespeare's Garden?  I don't know.  Sometimes something random gets tossed into the mix.  I know Rex is very fond of Shakespeare, so maybe the krewe just wanted to celebrate his 400th anniversary---which I assume means birthday in this case.

Another float in the Rex Den

You've got me which garden this is supposed to represent, but this pink-fringed white salamander was my favorite float of the day.

Another float in the Rex Den

That's a papal tiara, which doesn't get much use nowadays during the reign of Pope Francis.  In fact, the last pope to wear one was Paul VI, in 1963.  This float obviously has something to do with gardens in the Vatican, but which one I cannot say.

Thus concludes our photo essay for the time being.  Don't worry, I have scads and scads more photos to share between today and Mardi Gras Day.  If you are thinking about coming to New Orleans, you now have an inkling of what you will see.  If you weren't thinking about coming to New Orleans, maybe I've whetted your appetite.  I think we still have a few slots open during the big parade weekends.

And, in further news, I would like to both thank and congratulate two regular readers from The Shire City.  That's right, we received a SASE from funny, sunny and wunnerful Pittsfield, Massachusetts, founded 1761.  

Any other regular reader (or first-time visitor to this blog) who wants to earn an honorable mention in these pages, click here to find out how!

Until next time,
À votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade
...where the rest comes easy.