Destination New Orleans: 5 Things to Do During Your Visit, New Orleans, Louisiana

This is the kind of place where potholes can swallow a car tire in a single bite and construction projects take decades. Flash flooding is frequent when it rains because there is nowhere for the water to go. The city’s residents have adapted, basements are practically unheard of and definitely a folly, slab on grade construction begs for slightly damp walls, and there is a festival of some description almost every day.

The city is barely protected from becoming a swampy marsh by a series of engineered levees. Most of the municipality lies below sea level; with water on almost every side (see chart) and rainwater has no outlet. You can read the details on here.

Top its physical location with the brute destruction and levee breaches caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Then throw in a sprinkling of questionable politics over decades — New Orleans has had its share of challenges.

That is exactly why New Orleans is on many travel budget lists. Unlike any other in North America, New Orleans is a city where Britain meets the Bayou and where French influences are detectable in Cuban flavours. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).