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| The French Quarter of New Orleans |
New Orleans
No city in North America competes with New Orleans when it comes to culture, food, historic architecture and joie de vivre. The Crescent City has suffered plagues, wars, imperial regime changes and devastating floods. Yet it always wakes up with a smile on its face. This may be because its inhabitants step to an easy beat first laid down three centuries ago. Moving at this relaxed pace, visitors are delighted by the French Creole elegance of the Vieux Carre or the opulence discovered in a streetcar ride through the Garden District and Uptown. During Mardi Gras season, the city becomes the world’s center. Downtown transforms into an adult playground, while parades in residential areas provide children thrilling entertainment. Each spring, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival moves the focus to the charming Gentilly area and the Fair Grounds Race Course. But no matter the time of year, the Crescent City’s calendar overflows in celebration.
Covington
The alluring town of Covington stands at the border of two Louisianas. The first, to the south, is flat and wet, home to New Orleans, and rooted in a French-Catholic culture. North of town is hilly and piney - a farm country rooted in an Anglo-Protestant tradition. In Covington, you get the best of both worlds. It has top-notch white tablecloth restaurants, boutique shopping and the calendar is filled with a lively cultural scene of gallery openings, main street goings-on and the annual Three Rivers Arts Festival. This historic city is set on the Bogue Falaya River, where Columbia Street Landing holds community events, and from which there’s access to Lake Pontchartrain. But, with its proximity to country life, Covington is also a launch point for natural excursions, connecting to miles of the Tammany Trace’s green-drenched hiking and biking trails. Just a short drive away, horses cavort on rolling, pastured farms.
Mandeville
Mandeville is where the urban meets the natural. Founded in 1834 by the Marigny de Mandeville family of New Orleans, it developed early on as a lakeside summer resort for wealthy denizens of the Crescent City. This remains in evidence in the older quarters of the city, and in some of its key historic properties that are found on Lakeshore Drive. In the 1950s, Mandeville was connected to the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain via the Causeway, the longest bridge in the world. To complement its well-established, wooded suburbs, Mandeville offers a full complement of upscale amenities. These include fine dining establishments, shops and day spas – the perfect for unwinding after a visit to New Orleans. At the edge of town, Fontainebleau State Park offers cabins and campsites with plenty of diversion for nature lovers. It also connects to the Tammany Trace, a leafy, 31-mile trail that bicyclers find exhilarating.