Mardi Gras moment …
1995-02-05 04:00:00 PDT NEW ORLEANS — PINOCCHIO zooms by on roller skates, thin, hairy legs protruding from green lederhosen. Three Elvises swival past, hips rotating like long-playing records. A besequined, masked stranger raises his wine glass and blows me a kiss. Scandalous. Ridiculous. Crazy. Taboo. It’s Fat Tuesday –Mardi Gras, the most delightfully wicked time of the year and the last chance to be naughty before buckling into Lent’s iron girdle, the 40 days of abstinence and contrition that precede Easter. As a good Catholic girl, I remember Ash Wednesday:the dingy thumbprint on my forehead, the hard edge of the church pews. But it wasn’t until I could buy my own plane ticket that I greeted Lent in the proper manner – New Orleans’ style …
A clever person will stay for two weeks in a French Quarter flat, attend elegant New Orleans’ soirees and wild Cajun wing-dings and sample the fabulous fare of world-class restaurants like Tujague’s, Mr. B’s and K-Paul’s. That person will indulge so fully and have such a gluttonous time that Fat Tuesday will really be fat and Lent a welcome reprieve. But even if you’re only able to drop in on the party for a few carefree days and don’t know a soul in the city, you can pack in the parades, party in the streets and chow down at some of those legendary palaces of provender.
Read the full story here.