Mardi Gras in New Orleans 2007 - KREWE YORK

Almost forgot -

Fat Tuesday is 2/20/07 and the St. Anne Parade begins in the Marigny around 11 AM.


Just to get you in the mood..

One of my favorite pics from last year - the fabulous Basil Twist and Editrix Abby just before the parade kicked off..

Delightful news and now Brangelina too it seems are joining the parades this year. Good for them. New Orleans for Mardi Gras is one of the few adventures the increasingly loathsome America now offers.

I am travelling again now but will be checking into flights and hotels on my return, and know soon if I can make it again.

love from lisbon to all of krewe york and these mutterboards

U

Good morning Chi Chi! The last time Lou and I were in New Orleans was New Year's Eve, 2006. We left not knowing when we'd be able to return again, vacation dollars being in high demand, and all. It seems we simply do not function well if we are not in the throes of planning a Quarter trip. We've been planning the Mardi Gras Version of Getting to Know Our Past since July!

We're staying at Hotel Provincial (again!), arriving on the 18th and staying through the 23rd. See you then!

My dearest Ms. blue-

Such a pleasure to see you on The Motherboards - a true legend folks, a rose by any other name!

Johnny and I stayed at the Provincial last year for carnival, it is one of our favorite hotels and a great choice! We'll be right down the street at Le Richelieu, from 2/19 LATE to 2/23.

I just spoke to a friend down there, and rooms are getting very scarce, so uly and anyone else who is fence-sitting, or doesn't have friends to take them in, get something by Feb. 1 or you may be in a really sad room.

As we arrive too late on Lundi Gras, we won't be at the river for Zulufest, but its a great time for anyone who can make it. I will never forget last year watching Basil catch his first strand of beads...the coveted Zulu throw from the mayor!

Anyhoo, looking forward to seeing you at the St. Anne kickoff, 11 AM in the Marigny, exact spot tba week of carnival. As we are last-minute this year, no general theme, just ask you to incorporate the words "Krewe York" somewhere on your carnival deliciousness. (I personally love the sash, and will be featuring a new one this year, but the umbrellas proved most practical last year as it was HOT!)

Anyone who has written to me will also get an email or 2 of instructions where to meet and so-forth.

Yours in Bon Temps Roulet

Chi Chi

And Abigail is going again, you say?? I've a feeling I'll find you along the route...I shall begin work on a proper parsol this weekend.

Please feign nonchalance when you observe me in New Balance walkers! I promise to festoon them appropriately.

Ahhhh! 19 more days! I have to start packing! I'm going to require 4 valises just for me. Between the hats, the fluffy skirts, the feathers, the footwear (in addition to those ridiculous New Balance things)the gloves, the reticules, the accessories, how can I be expected to go to work, as well??
I have no desire to cook another meal. I have outfits to organize and rhinestones to coordinate. Let them eat cake......King Cake!
I have to pack pack pack pack!

Thank you for getting me in the mood. I need a DEEP garment/trim district expedition for my embellishments, and you've inspired me!

Thanks VB and yes, last I spoke to her Abby was coming - I'll let you know when I hear more.

My dear Empress, I am at your service! All this going to work is seriously cramping my style. I expect to have everything laid out this weekend so I can take a good look at it all. Good thing Miss Coco Dolly lives in a dorm now, I can spread it out in her room.
Masks have been ordered! I need more lingerie!

It's official......there's no living with me. This always happens when a vacation draws near. Add to the calendar winding down the fact that on New Year's eve, the guys from Preservation Hall Jazz Band dedicated a song to Lou and I because we told them we were headed down to their club for Mardi Gras.
Our masks came in the mail the other day. I just spent a hundred and forty bucks on panties. I have 30 dollars worth of loose rhinestones and eyelash glue. I've made more gumbo in the last three weeks than I did in the last 6 months. I doubt there is any okra left in the south.
I have to get back to packing.

Just heard from Abby - she will be flying in on Monday for the St. Anne parade Tuesday and will be meeting up with us there.

I cannot wait to see what you come up with my dear VeraBlue. There may only be a few of us Krewe Yorkers this year, but we will be REPRESENTING!

I spoke to Abby yesterday. She's getting in on Monday. We've started to make some plans for the days after....I see much shopping in my future!
See you in a few days!

Thought you'd enjoy this snippet about the St. Anne parade, explains it well..

quote:

Ste. Anne, like so many of the precious ephemera of Mardi Gras, defies attempts to define it. As a walking club, the only requirement for membership is that you know about it. Every Mardi Gras morning, a large group of people, wearing the most over-the-top costumes imaginable (including the kitchen sink), arrives at someone's house somewhere in the Bywater. Soon the Storyville Stompers show up, and everyone follows the band through the Bywater into the French Quarter up Royal Street, gathering more costumers at various points along the way, until they come to Canal Street where they await the arrival of Rex.

In Ste. Anne, everyone costumes; there are no spectators, only participants. Without any stated doctrine or structure, the Ste. Anne parade, in its spontaneity and disorganization, resembles the old Creole cavalcades that sprawled through New Orleans' streets in the 1830s...

Full article at http://www.kreweofsaintanne.org/history.html

The site's main page has the updated parade route, but it still has last year's directions.

I'll post here in a few days..Remember to look for the signature ribboned hoops if you're in the quarter looking for us.

I have to post my regrets at not making the parade this suncycle. After last year's postapocalyptic blowout I want to kind of just preserve the solemnity of the joy. I am sure I will be back again and wish you all a pass-out inducing march. And Empress please say hi to your brother whose hospitality I so enjoyed.

I've been to the St. Anne's website several times already...mostly looking for pictures of you, ChiChi, but also enjoying the pictures of everyone else. The ribboned hoops look beautiful. I want one, actually...for my garden. It would look beautiful next to the mannequin beneath the pear tree.

So far, the weather looks lovely for Tuesday!

There's a picture of JD and I in the Rex/Canal Street section, but you might not know it was us!

Music We We Are beading to right now:

Bon Temps Roulet - Clifton Chenier
Mardi Gras in New Orleans - Professor Longhair
Do Whatcha Wanna - Rebirth Brass Band
They All Asked for You - Rockin' Dopsie, Jr.
Big Chief - Wild Tchiapatoulis
Just A Closer Walk With Thee - Dirty Dozen Brass Band
I Wish I Was In New Orleans - Tom Waits
Carnival Time - Wild Magnolias

Your musical choices sound inspiring, indeed. You've listed favourites of mine! The Rebirth Brass Band is playing Tuesday evening in Carrolton. Tornado notwithstanding, we're thinking of going.

I wish I was is New Orleans, too!

quote:

The Rebirth Brass Band is playing Tuesday evening in Carrolton. Tornado notwithstanding, we're thinking of going.

Well, by Tuesday night I know I'll be perched in Boys Town on a stoop, still in full carnival drag and masque, feet swollen to 3x normal size. And you will need a wheelchair to go out dancing!

Rebirth is amazing live, though, we saw them last year at Zulufest.

Have a great safe trip and I'll post here and leave a message for you when St. Anne posts the final, final route..

PS

That handsome white-haired older man at the desk of The Provincial also walks St. Anne! We saw him on the parade route last year dressed as Poe with a black raven on his shoulder a la my own "Russell Crow"

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.

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.