New Orleans Skies

I love the sky in New Orleans during Summer.  The sky is beautiful every season of the year in this wonderful city we call home but in Summer, because we live in the swamp, the humidity rises and rises until it condenses into the biggest, puffiest, cloudiest cumulus confections you've ever seen.  Cumulo-nimbus, too.

Another beautiful New Orleans day.

None of the photos I've chosen to illustrate todays installment feature much of what I'm talking about.  In the late morning or the early afternoon, when the clouds in the sky are at their most plumpest, I don't take pictures of them with my camera.  I study them.  They slowly expand, very slowly.  If you pay attention you can see them growing and growing.  It's a breathtaking thing to pay attention to.

I do sketch the cloudscapes.  You don't know this but, when I was much younger than I am today, I went to art school.  I was a practicing painting until I turned 40.  I am turning 53 this year.  I don't hold gallery exhibitions and I don't paint much anymore but I'm starting to get an itch in my palette thumb.  I've got some ideas for new paintings burbling up in my idea hopper.  Why?  Because I am inspired by New Orleans skies.

Daydreams and sweet dreams.

Follow men's eyes as they look to the skies---that is where the fabric of their dreams lies.  Anyone who is stoop-shouldered and spends all their time looking at the ground doesn't have inspiring dreams.  Their dreams are mired in mud and puddles and litter.  That's my opinion, at least.

Aim high.  That way, if you fall short, you'll still get somewhere.

I love clouds.  I love daydreams.  I love the New Orleans state of mind, which is mostly made up of fairy tales, daydreams, flights of fancy, and the most improbably things.  If something might be true in New Orleans, it probably is.  Nothing improbable is impossible.  It's a way of live.

Summer is the slow of year in New Orleans from a tourism viewpoint.  Very few people visit the city, much to their loss.  Yes it is hot.  Yes it is humid.  Guess what?  No one else is visiting.  The only people in New Orleans in July and August are the people who live here.  You don't have to wait in line for anything.  You don't have to make reservations beforehand.  You can come and go as you please, like you own the city---like you belong here.

You do belong in New Orleans.  There is no other city on this great green-and-blue ball we call home (third planet from the Sun) that is so welcoming, so accommodating, so happy to have you here.  Welcome to New Orleans.  Welcome to the New Orleans state of mind.

Look up.  Even the clouds are happy you are here.  There are portents in the heavens.  All signs are favorable.  Good memories are made in New Orleans.  The best memories are made at La Belle Esplanade.  Use your better intuition and get your good self down here.  Get your head nailed on street.  New Orleans cures all ills.  take it from me.  I see it happen every day.  

À votre santé,

-Your two friends at La Belle Esplanade

Sunday, June 16, 2019.

There is a physical New Orleans and then there is a New Orleans of the heart.  Keep your eyes open in this wonderful city we call home and you’ll learn what it means to fall in love with New Orleans.  We’re here for you.  You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue.    Follow our other blog, or, follow us on Facebook, subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.  Keep yourself in a New Orleans state of mind.  There is regular happy, and then there is New Orleans happy.  When you’re ready to visit, you know where to find us: we’re in the bright orange house with blue shutters.  Good memories are made on our street.

We only have five suites.  Ours is a small artisanal operation.  You know how you get the best beer from a craft brewery.  Well, you get the best hospitality from a craft hotel.  We know what we’re doing.  Let us share the real New Orleans with you, not the off-the-rack version.  Plug your dates into our calendar and see what we have available.  Plan ahead.  With only five suites we tend to fill up early.

Stay as long as you can.  No one ever says their visit to New Orleans is too long.  They always say it is too short.  The longer you are here, the more you’ll realize how much more there is to discover and explore.  There are good surprises around every corner.  New Orleans blooms with happiness.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us, that’s what we’re here for.  We look forward to meeting you in person.

Ranked the #1 place to stay in New Orleans since April 2014 for very good reasons:

The 2020 awards will be announced next January.  We hope we'll get the chance to meet you and share our part of New Orleans with you before then.  Cheers!