Greetings from Axemoor!

Your humble narrator

Some people accuse your humble narrator of being a colorful character (in the most complimentary sense), to which he responds that in this business that's an asset.  

Speaking of colorful characters, did you know that New Orleans lies within the boundaries of the Barony of Axemoor?  Talk about some colorful characters.   

Welcome to the world of the Society of Creative Anachronism.  As if New Orleans didn't already have enough layers.  My discovery of this explains why I sometimes see people practicing swordplay in the back corners of City Park.

Within the boundaries of the the Barony of Axemoor are included New Orleans; Slidell, LA; and the Bayou Areas, whatever that last bit might mean.  I assume that last bit means Delacroix, Point à la Hache, and maybe Honey Island.  

La Belle Esplanade, a boutique New Orleans bed and breakfast inn, lies within the heart of the Barony of Axemoor.

Macaroons!!

The Baron of Axemoor has pledged his fealty to the Lord of Gleann Abhann.  New Orleans is not just a part of Louisiana, it's also a part of the Kingdom of Gleann Abhann.  

Should you ever be wanting to give a food gift as an act of homage to the liege of Gleann Abhann, Prince Faelan, please remember that he's anaphylactically allergic to cinnamon and just regularly allergic to avacados and bananas.  Presumably avocados and bananas make his highness break out in hives without constricting his airway.   

Her Royal Highness and Prince Faelan's royal consort, Princess Linnett, lists Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade as one of her favorite beverages.  Aye, 'tis a noble quaff, indeed, milady.

There are other people, though, who think Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade is just okay.  "This is something that, if somebody offers it to you at a party, you drink it to be polite..."


   
If you would like to know what the world looks like to someone in the Society of Creative Anachronism, we've go that covered:

Kingdoms in the Known World

Something tells me that map's not to scale.  What would that be?  The absence of South America.  This is, however, how many North Americans see the world.

I've got to admit that I don't see a lot of people around New Orleans who are drinking Mike's Hard Lemonade.  The six-packs in the convenience stores are all dusty.  This is a cocktail town and it has been long before craft cocktails were in vogue.  We even have a Museum of the American Cocktail.  

The Museum of the American Cocktail is part of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFAB) which recently reopened on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.  The 91 bus, which stops right in front of our house, also stops right in front of SoFAB's new address.  It's a nice ride.  

Frau Schmitt and I haven't been to the new SoFab location, so we're due.  I'll write about it after we go.  That gives you regular readers something to which you can look forward.  Relevant content?  Whodathunkit?

Now, to wrap up today's installment, I'd like to discuss my accent because someone brought it to my attention the other day.  I said to a guest, "When you call a cab, just tell them you want to go to the Quarter."  

Phonetically transcribed, what I really said was: "When ya call a cab, just tell em ya wanna go da de Quawdah."

I sometimes correspond with guests before they arrive and they tell me that my email voice is the same as the voice I use when I write this blog.  That's true.  Like Popeye, I yam what I yam.


That Popeye cartoon is notable for an unexpected Mahatma Gandhi cameo.  Watch for it.  Gandhi was Indian, after all.

If you want to know how I pronounce some words, here's a link to another map.  That will give you a preview of what to expect before we meet in person.

When we do meet, remember, we will meet in Axemoor.

À votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.

La France Suite Revisited

St. Joan of Arc statue in La France Suite

It's about time to post some updates on what our suites look like.  We've made a lot of changes recently all over the inn, but the fewest changes have been made in La France.  

In case you don't know, this is one of our smaller suites, located in the rear of the house.  How small is smaller?  Well, it was the first suite that someone said is bigger than their apartment in Brooklyn.  It is two rooms with a private bath and a balcony.  It has twelve and a half foot ceilings.  It's pretty spacious.

Sitting room in La France Suite

Every room at La Belle Esplanade is painted a different color.  In La France Suite, the colors are those of the French flag: blue, white, and red.  Vive la France.  These are the only rooms that have white ceilings.  

There is an antique wardrobe, a couple marble topped tables, a (non-working) fireplace in each room, a writing desk, antique dressing table, and an antique dresser.  There is a fainting couch to catch you should you happen to swoon.  The bathroom has an antique claw foot tub equipped with a shower head.  The curtain rod is suspended from the twelve and a half foot ceiling.

Bed in La France Suite

The bed is antique, too.  In the bed and breakfast trade, we call it "plantation size."  Know what that means?  It means this is a full bed meant for two people.  It isn't as big as a queen size bed, but who's going to complain about sleeping in an antique like this?  Enjoy the experience.

La France Suite is located in the rear of the inn.  I know I already said this, but it bears repeating because it has a balcony that overlooks the fountain in the garden out back.  You can also see the Superdome from there, which is about two, maybe two and a half, miles away as the pelican flies.  At night, the Superdome is lit up in an ever-changing array of colors.  It's really something to see.  

By the way, I should probably be calling the Superdome the Mercedes Benz Louisiana Superdome, since the car company purchased the naming rights.  It's where the Saints play football.  The Pelicans play basketball in what was formerly the New Orleans Arena.  They just sold the naming rights to that a few weeks ago so here is its new official name.  Brace yourselves.  It is now called the Smoothie King Center.  It's kind of hard to say with a straight face, but Smoothie King is a local company with franchises throughout Louisiana and South Korea, of all places.  I've never been inside of one myself but they sell smoothies, 'natch, and I think powdered diet supplements, too.  

Of course, none of this has anything to do with what concerns you or I, so let's keep moving along to this article's end, shall we?

La France balcony

I was in the garden last evening as the sun was going down when I snapped a picture of the balcony in the back.  Notice how the back of the house is shaped like an arrow pointing to Heaven.  Excelsior!

If you are wondering what excelsior means, it's Latin for "ever upward."  It is the motto of the Great State of New York.  Louisiana's motto is in English: "Union.  Justice.  Confidence."  New Orleans' motto is Laissez les bon temps rouler.  I told that to some French guests recently and they remarked that it made perfect sense, even with my Connecticut accent.

We have a statue of St. Joan of Arc in La France Suite.  Frau Schmitt and I have taken a fancy to her, as has most of the City of New Orleans.  Here's a picture of the St. Joan of Arc statue in the French Quarter:

Joanie on the Pony

If I've just convinced you that La France Suite is a beautiful place to stay, please visit our website to see if it's available for the dates you are considering.  If it isn't available, our other suites are just as nice.  We look forward to meeting you.

A votre santé,

La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.

P.S.  If you want to read our first description of La France Suite, you can find it here.

Bonus video:  St. Joan of Arc vs. Miley Cyrus.  While I don't exactly approve of the medium, I do approve of the message.  I'll take St. Joan any day over the other, of whose existence I am only vaguely aware from what I read in the newspaper.