Day 3: Easter and Absinthe...
Sunday arrived and I decided to sleep in for a bit, the drinking from the night before made it tough to get off to an early start. It was Easter and some of my friends went to mass at the St. Louis Cathedral, I chose not to join them thinking that sleep was a better option for me at this point. New Orleans is such a city of contrasts and paradoxical juxtapositions. It is a predominantly Catholic city yet there is such a history of decadence and debauchery here. This is the original Sin City, yet it also has such an incredible feeling of redemption and repentance to it. Maybe it was just the alcohol finally soaking in but I felt as if this is a city truly trapped between heaven and hell, and there was no other place I wanted to be on this Sunday morning.
After taking the time to post my report for Saturday, I hopped out for a quick bite and a shopping trip into the French Quarter. I am not much of a materialistic person but this is one place where I wish I had a ton of money to spend, there are so many beautiful and interesting things to buy here. Antique shops filled with beautiful things abound throughout the Quarter and there are several stores that would make any Goth just drool with desire. Among the Goth friendly stores are Gargoyles and Armed and Dangerous, both having a good selection of clothing and accessories, Gargoyles also carries a nice selection of boots and shoes. (For more info on Goth friendly stores, etc. in New Orleans, check out Misha's marvelous New Orleans Gothic Guide).
 The Mighty Mississippi River from Near the French Market |
My quest for the day was to find something to wear for the ball that night. But before I got serious about that I headed over to the French Market where Jason had told me his group was going to do some shopping. The French Market lies along Decatur Street near the downriver end of the Quarter, the market has been there since the early 1800's and is open daily. It is an eclectic blend of farmer's market and flea market. Every sort of tourist souvenir can be found here as well as fresh local produce and seafood. In keeping with the spicy tradition of Louisiana cooking, there are a couple of vendors in the market that sell nothing but hot sauce of every strength and description. The market is one of those places to go to just to see the odd kind of things people will buy and sell, if you ever wanted an alligator head or a turtle shell, even an animal skull, you can find it here. The French Market is a quirky but fun place, definitely check it out if you get to New Orleans.
I never did run into Jason and the gang while I was out shopping but that's OK. After picking up a couple of souvenirs for some close friends, I got serious about my mission to find appropriate attire for the Ball that evening. I ended up in Gargoyles and purchased a few items to the tune of $270 to round out an ensemble fit to be worn to this grand event.
With my shopping completed, I wandered back over to the Bienville House to see what kind of trouble I could find to kill the time until the ball that night. In the lobby, I ran into Clifford of necronomi.com and Carrie of Dark Side of the Net. We had been talking about sampling my big bottle of Absinthe and how we were going to find the time for indulging in the green stuff during this incredibly busy weekend. With a spark of inspiration, Cliff named me an honorary necronomi.com list moderator and invited me to a meeting of the moderators provided I bring the bottle of Absinthe with me. As I was a little tired from walking all over the Quarter, this idea struck me as being a pretty good one so I snuck back over to the Mariott to get cleaned up and grabbed some drinkables to bring to the party.
The meeting quickly turned into a party that was attended by several people I had been wanting to meet. Lisa of Black Tape for a Blue Girl was there as were all of the necronomi.com list moderators that were in attendance of C5. I had brought my infamous bottle of Absinthe to the party which soon became a new incarnation of the Green Hour. Styling ourselves as a group of new Bohemians, we indulged in the Absinthe ritual and conversation upon the balcony of the Bienville House Hotel. For a time it felt as if we had been transported back to the Paris of the last century as we sipped and talked, watching life pass in the street below. In almost no time, the bottle went from mostly full to completely empty with few of us present in that timeless place not falling under the spell of La Fee Verte.
 Mikaela and Lisa on the balcony at the Bienville House |
 Todd Marylace, Carrie of Gothic Cat Rescue and friends enjoying the afternoon on the balcony |
 Kyria showing off her dress for the Ball |
 Trystan from alt.goth.fashion and Carrie in her Easter dress |
Much of the conversation at the party came to center around the Absinthe I had brought and I took turns with Clifford explaining some of the history and lore of La Fee Verte, the Green Fairy as it was once known in France. This all seemed right and appropriate since New Orleans was one of the few places in the United States that really adopted Absinthe to any great extent. One of the historic buildings on Bourbon street is the Old Absinthe House, sadly it is far from being anything like the condition it was in around the turn of the century. I paid the place a visit and was disgusted at the lack of historical preservation in the bar, I was so disgusted that I chose not to take any pictures but I did go in to see the green marble water fountain that was used long ago in serving the magic elixir.
The conversation at the party drifted to the topic of absinthe spoons and their use as there were a few people there that did not know much about absinthe and the way in which it was once served. I had not intended for the conversation to dwell on all things absinthe but I guess it was inevitable that we would discuss the topic at great length including the way it is made, the history and some of the colorful characters that were associated with this intriguing liquor.
For anybody that is interested in Absinthe, there is now a new Absinthe discussion forum on the Necronomi.com server. Check out their web site to get more information on subscribing.
 The necronomi.com list moderators. |
 Clifford and I share some Absinthe, toasting the imminent launch of the Absinthe list. |
Sometime around 6:00, I joined Carrie, Mikaela and Mistress Crimson to get a little dinner before getting dressed for the ball. (Carrie claims she kidnapped us, I certainly wasn't fighting her... see her C5 diary for her take on the events of the day and a picture of Crimson). The four of us walked across the street to a little place called the "Crawgator." One specialty of the house being a combination plate consisting of alligator fillet and fried crawfish tails, hence the rather unusual name of the place. This sounded like a good thing to try so I ordered it to get my first taste of alligator, I have to say it was quite tasty, and no, it does NOT taste like chicken.
With a full stomach and one hell of a buzz from all the afternoon drinking, I left my three lovely dinner companions and headed back to the hotel to change for the ball. The last day of Convergence also turned out to be the busiest for me as you shall see as I take you to the ball...
This Pen and Glass II- Convergence 5 Memorial ring site owned by Dragon.
[ Previous 5 Sites | Previous | Next | Next 5 Sites | Random Site | List Sites ]
Photos may be used on personal web sites of those appearing in the photos, all other uses require express written permission.