Day 267 - New Orleans Part II - Mardi Gras!

As I continue on our outing to NOLA - (New Orleans, Louisiana), I'll repost our itinerary for you to follow as we go.

Day 1 - World War II Museum (5 1/2 hours) (packed our own lunch)

             Dinner at Pat O'Briens

Day 2 - Walking tour of the Garden District including cemetery

             Lunch of Muffuletta at Central Grocery & Deli

             Tour Mardi Gras World

             Jazz concert at Preservation Hall

             Dinner at corner restaurant - best peach Sangria

Day 3 - Walking Tour of French District

             Lunch of sloppy roast beef Po'Boy at Johnny's

             Toured Challmete Plantation where the Battle of New Orleans was fought

             Dinner of left over Muffuletta

Day 4 - Walking tour of Baratania Preserve to see the swamps (no alligators - too cold)

             Packed lunch

             Toured Laura Plantation

Day 5 - Finally had a beignet on our way out of town!

After lunch (on day 2), we caught the Mardi Gras World courtesy van to the warehouse where they are set up for tours.  Our bus driver kept a running commentary on the surrounding area as well as NOLA's sports teams.  We were lucky to understand 1 of every 3 words (due to both noise and a strong local accent)  Once we arrived at the warehouse we had to wait for about 10 minutes for the next tour, so we sat on the patio bordering the Mississippi River. I love the reflection of the bridge in the water on the patio wall.

Typical Mardi Gras royalty regalia on mannequins.

The tour was very informational and beautiful.  Our tour guide LOVES Mardi Gras and left us with the desire to participate :) .  She is very good at her job!  Mardi Gras began as Fat Tuesday - the practice of eating rich, fatty foods on the day before Lent. It was originally celebrated at Mardi Gras balls which still occur along with the parades which have gotten more and more elaborate.  Carnival season begins on Jan. 5th (Epiphany), and ends with the biggest celebration on Mardi Gras, i.e., Fat Tuesday - the day before Ash Wednesday. The floats in the parades follow a theme and are made up of huge sculptures.  These statues are made mostly of Styrofoam or fiberglass.  Styrofoam is usually preferred for the floats as it is 1) lighter, 2) easier to redesign, and 3) easier to repair if it is damaged.  The statues are only rented from the company that builds them so rebuilding them is quite common.

If a statue is made from scratch, they start with 4" Styrofoam, glue several sheets together until you have the appropriate thickness, then carve away the excess to form the design required in the drawing.  Here is a body being built according to the picture in the photo beneath it.  There are many heads already completed, and standard neck sizes are used so that the heads can fit on multiple bodies (as they are reused or updated).

The drawing being followed.

After  the Styrofoam is sculpted, it is covered with paper mache - just like we did as kids - thin strips of paper are dipped a mixture of flour and water (and some other stuff) and applied to the styroform sculpture.  The artist applying the paper mache is dwarfed by the sculptures around her.

Some of the available heads.

This guy is being re-purposed.  His hand is being remodeled to hold the head currently resting at his feet.

Here is a drawing of the float he will be displayed on.

Another sculpture - nearly ready for the float. 

A drawing of the float the leopards will grace.

After the paper mache is applied and dry, the sculpture is given a base coat of white paint.

Then the color is added.  The painter on the left is using a spray gun (like those used for models) to add color.  Isn't he cute??

The sculptures are designed and built by a team of people.  The only art that is completed by one person is flowers.  These are designed then cut out of a heavy card stock and then a wire is attached to give the flower flexibility. Flowers are unique to each float, i.e., the same type of flower can only be used on one float.

One of the draws of Mardi Gras are the "throws".  Each float is staffed with volunteers - all in costume and masked - who toss gifts to the audience.  The people on the float usually buy their own "throws" so this can get quite expensive.  The "throws" vary from beaded necklaces, to cups and various trinkets, to elaborate, bejeweled shoes or custom painted coconut shells.   As a protest to floats that don't carry people (who throw gifts), people started throwing beads BACK at the sculpture.  This has now become a tradition as people try to get the beads caught in King Kong's neck (you can see them if you look closely) or on Mrs. Kong's lipstick or glasses.

After the tour we were allowed to walk around the warehouse looking at all the sculptures stored there.

We ended the tour back in the gift shop where we were given a slice of King Cake - a yummy cinnamon, sugar delight (more of a bread than a cake).  It will have a plastic baby Jesus somewhere in the cake.  If you get the baby then it is your turn to buy the next cake.  These are traditionally only made during Mardi Gras, but the tour has a special order so their guests can sample them!

Our courtesy van delivered us back to the French Quarter where we were surprised to see a small band followed by a bunch of people waving white handkerchiefs.

We discovered later that this is called a "second line" - the "first or Main line" being the jazz band and the "second line" those celebrating life (or death) with the band.  This Second Line was celebrating a wedding.  Here are the bride and groom, the bride with a traditional parasol (to keep off the sun or rain accordingly), and the groom in a kilt!

That evening we attended a Jazz concert at Preservation Hall, where they keep old time Jazz alive.  It was a dark room with benches to sit on.  The music was fun - a lot of Louis Armstrong favorites.

My goodness this was a busy day!  Join me for day 3 (and hopefully 4) tomorrow! I will try to be less of a school teacher :)