I am officially ON VACATION! I blew out of work at 1pm today. I felt like the silver ball in a pin ball game. After a quick couple of stops on the way home, I'm packing packing packing! Rebirth is playing again Lundi Gras at 3pm!

My wigs are washed and brushed, the feathers are rolled up, the crinilons are poofed. I've got your cell number... I've got new balance walking shoes, and party favours. I've got a man I love, and the tastebuds of a chef...I may never go home.

Well, this is it! The St. Anne parade route is:

quote:

The beginning point for the festivities is at the intersection of Chartres and Marigny at The Friendly Lounge at 9-10 AM on Mardi Gras Day.

The address is 2301 Chartres in case you need to use a map or GPS. Get there early to admire all the revelers.

Route of Parade

Note that this is a slightly revised route from previous years!

Remember to always follow the Storyville Stompers marching band and the "crab nets" [hula hoops with colorful ribbons on poles] waving in the air.


The parade starts as you follow the Storyville Stompers down Chartres toward Elysian Fields and Canal Street.

Proceed all the way down Chartres to approximately Toulouise.

Turn right onto (approximately)Toulouise and then left onto Royal Street.

Take Royal Street several blocks down to Canal. There will be a long or short pause while the Krewe of Ste Anne enjoys Rex.

At the end of Rex the Krewe of Saint Anne will follow the Rex parade on Canal for one block or so and then turn left onto Chartres.

Follow Chartres down to Jackson Square and take a right turn onto Jackson Square, cross Decatur Street, and proceed onto the Mississippi River Moonwalk.

The parade ends here at approximately 3 PM each year after singing and a group baptismal rite.

The ashes of the dearly departed are interred into the river during this ceremony.

Good place to meet up with us is Esplanade and Chartres round noon as the parade should be just entering the quarter then. Look for a black parasol with "krewe york" and "new york city" across the back on ribbons and you'll see Daddy and I.

Another great place to meet up for late sleepers is Royal and Canal, where St. Anne watches Rex.
And there is of course the river, which I am determined to make this year.

Seven, basil, st. eve, layard and Ulysses - we shall miss you this year, but thanks for helping Krewe York get off to such a magical start in '06.

All Hail Carnival!

Yours in purple, green and gold..
Krewe York

Have a great and safe time Empress. I wish I could join you and daddy but maybe next year.

It was a great Mardi Gras!
Perfect weather.
The St. Anne parade was (as always) the best parade in Mardi Gras. The costumes were amazing.

Something like The St. Anne parade is always a reminder to me of what New York used to be like. Of course the $200.00 a month rents here are also a reminder of what The East Village used to be like.

In any case, the numbers and money were pre-Katrina numbers. It brought about a billion (much needed) dollars to the local economy.

I know the last few days have been Mardi Gras and everyone was happy but people seem more hopeful this year.
(I think)
I'll do some more asking now that people have sobered up a little)

The St. Anne parade

It's now Ash Wednesday, but I ain't givin' shit up for Lent.

so glad to hear it was so great and so sorry i missed it (debbie's sorry too)
Ive been in atlanta and up until wed rolled around i was still holding out hope that i might somehow make it back again this year

thank you for representing, krewe york!

I'm missing Debbie myself.

Especially hanging out with her in Jackson Square at the tail end of the parade when everyone is wrecked and the smiles seem permanent and sent by the Universe as a complete cure.

Looking forward to some more pics, Daddy, and there better be some of you and the Empress.

It is a boost to hear there has been a marked recovery in attendance at the parade this year.

Krewe York was a little bit fancier this year.

Here the Empress contemplates a "smoke" before joining the parade.

WORK Empress!!!

This is me getting ready for the parade.

I thought I was so cool this year because I decided to wear just ONE set of Mardi Gras beads.
No tacky Bourbon Street bead madness for me.
I would wear just one tastefull set of Mardi Gras beads that I had thoughtfully picked out.

After the parade we stopped in the Cafe Du Monde for a cafe' au lait and some beignets.
The waitress looked at my beads and broke into hysterics.
"You got 'Princess Beads" on!" she laughed.
"You see that crown?"
"That's the princess' crown!"



It figures.

Doesn't Daddy look all Velasquez and all?

Here's my report on this year's KREWE YORK.

Whenever we're in New Orleans, we wander around dazed with love for all the unique, eternal things and people you find there:

The old queen wearing nothing but a jockstrap stumbling home at 10:30 AM on Ash Wednesday, in the Lower Quarter.

The new (to us) restaurant we ate in, Muriel's, with its resident "prominent ghost", Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan, who lost the house in 1815, but has been seen there fifty times this decade alone. Delicious food BTW.

The TSA Agent at Louis Armstrong airport saying "Y'all come back soon and see us, baby"

And of course, St. Anne.

The parade began with a giant contretemps, which immediately reassured me that Marigny/Bywater was back to normal - the same Divine Pettiness that marks other great towns as well - Provincetown immediately comes to mind. They actually published two conflicting parade routes, then chose which one to use as they went - Royal Street, my favorite route. I hope no one was waiting for us at Chartres and Esplanade, but we saw everyone but you Ms Blue, hope you had a great day.

Got to walk quite a ways with Abby, catching up. She was resplendent in pink satin and purple ribbons and jewelry made of candy. She seems happy being a West Coast girl now - I actually hadn't seen her since last year's St. Anne!

Right before Canal Street, about two hours into the parade, we pined for a cocktail and decided to duck into the Monteleone Hotel's lobby bar. It seems like a hundred completely decked St. Anne folks all had the same idea, and it was so much fun to be in an entire room of people dressed as elaborately and lovingly as JD and myself - AND have seats, bloody marys, and a bloody cigarette too!

Exited the hotel - had missed Rex this year and the heinous truck parades were already rolling for the bead grumpsters on Canal. Suddenly, Johnny spied one of the huge, beribboned hoops turning the corner. We fell into the hardcore of St. Anne as they made the annual pilgrimage to the river. Though it was our fourth St. Anne parade, we had never made it to the very end before. It was solemn, joyful, incredibly overdressed, with the partially crossdressed Storyville Stompers playing "I'll Fly Away" as the krewe filled the stairs right down to the mighty Mississipi, to leave the ashes of the "dearly departed". And a phalanx of Coast Guard boats with machine guns ready were also on the river with us. I'm sure they enjoyed the spectacle.

Afterwards, Bourbon was almost its pre-K nightmare packed self, but it's great, because all the nightmares WANT to be there. Like finds like, ya no? We scurried towards Marigny, and were served by a delightful waitress at Mona's, which was also filled with St. Anne and like-minded folk. We ate like pigs after the five-hour St. Anne experience. Frenchmen Street later on seemed emptier this year, but still riveting and filled with everyone from JCs to Ancient Faeries. As predicted, out at noon and home by midnight, All On A Mardi Gras Day.

I'll post again when the pics go up on the St. Anne website.

Beautiful!!! Amazing!!! Hot....

Sooo gorgy. I have to go one day. It sounds amazing.

Oh what a great day! I have a big grin across my face!

Mardi Gras 2007 was a totally different experience for me as compared to 2006. Last year I was with about a dozen people who'd been doing New Orleans every year for 17 years, all tourists. This year I spent most of my time with locals. It was a much more mellow year for me...only got in Monday morning. But it was nice to spend a few extra days post-party mode and see what the city is like without the totaly insanity.
It was lovely strolling with Chi and Johnny and catching up. I also spent an evening with Louis and Madame, listening to jazz.
Here's a shot of me with the kids I was hanging out with,

a shot of my hosts, who conveniently live on the St. Anne's Parade route,
and a shot of me in my beribboned finery.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Abby,

Abby

It was gorgeous to see you too and Im so glad you have fallen in love with NOLA - it was destined to happen.

JD and I didnt bring a camera out with us this year, as the St. Anne website always has hundreds. But this year, it took weeks for the webmaster to put the site up, due to (Mercury Retrograde) computer issues. But they went up last night and are GORGEOUS -over 500 pics

http://www.kreweofsaintanne.org/2007/index.html

DONT MISS the last set in particular because they document that last stretch at the river better than any words ever can.

There are also several pictures of JD and I, a few with our new friends, the St. Anne webmaster and his companion.

Here's one..

And my favorite picture of the year, also taken at The River. It is clear by the poem and some of the other pictures in the set that this person was there throwing ashes.

THIS is why I love this place, these rituals and people, come hell or high water.