Carnival Perfection

Have you ever had a perfect day? A day so right that you knew, even while you were in the middle of it, that something special was happening here. Lithus and I had one of those during Carnival. We had several days in a row that were indescribable and unexpected, but there was one day particular that was, simply, perfect.

It started with croissants from the Cafe Beignet, right around the corner. Now, the place that is known for beignets here in NOLA is Cafe du Monde. And their beignets are fine. But they are not the only, nor the best, place in town. Plus, as implied by the statement about croissants, there are other places that sell beignets and other goodness. So, croissants and fresh fruit. In bed. From Cafe Beignet.

Then, we wandered down to Bourbon Street, which is generally a bad idea if you are a) local and don't work there, b) sober, c) all of  the above. But it was Carnival and we wanted to people watch. So, we braved Bourbon Street to go to...the Cafe Beignet on Bourbon Street. Yep, turns out there are two of them. And the one on Bourbon Street is set back just a bit, so you can see Bourbon Street, but you are off the sidewalk just a bit. Perfect.

Why we wanted to be off the street a bit

This guy looked up just in time to not walk into us, who were standing very still

We found a table, were grooving to the live music (because there is live music everywhere), sipping our coffees, watching the craziness when BOOM beads land on our table. I looked up and found the man on the balcony across the street who had thrown them. Apparently, we weren't participating enough. He waved, pointed to Lithus and threw down another set. Kisses were blown, happy Mardi Gras(s) were exchanged, and life continued.

The man in black in the middle of the picture. This is on the tightest setting for my camera, so you can imagine how far away he was and what an arm he had to get the beads to us.

Even when these idiots showed up,

Idiots

the day was still perfect. Why, you ask? Because no one engaged them. No one. It was if they weren't even there. They tried, mind you, but they failed. The party raged on around them, and we all ignored them (except for me, who took a picture).

Two couples from Chicago joined us at our table and we chatted. They were thrilled to meet locals, who could make recommendations. We were thrilled to be locals who could make recommendations. They headed back into it and we stayed to finish our coffees, but as we were leaving, they showed back up again. A camera had gone missing. It wasn't at the table. It wasn't in the bathroom. I thought to ask the server if someone had turned it in. Sure enough, someone had. No, it hadn't been stolen. And these lovely people from Chicago gave me the credit for having found their camera. Lovely and sweet.

We ended the day at our favorite club, the BMC, listening to Eudora Evans and Deep Soul. If you ever get the chance, end your day listening to Eudora Evans and Deep Soul.