Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez
As I am walking from Bourbon Street to the lower French Quarter, I can tell we are getting closer by the smell of fried dough and chicory in the cool evening air. I start to get excited about what is to come, a good hot cup of café au lait and freshly made beignets, covered in tons and tons of powdered sugar. As the Café Du Monde comes into view, I can see the building on the corner of Decatur and Jackson Square with its famous green and white awning. The large covered dining area has many small white tables with five or six olive green chairs crowded around. Very few tables are available, but we always manage to find ourselves one. There are people of all races gathered around enjoying a nice evening in New Orleans. It’s always so exciting and enlightening to weave through crowds of people and tables and hear the many accents that can be heard throughout New Orleans. The accents vary from French and European to a very thick Cajun. You can even hear a few from the south with a heavy southern drawl. Everyone is close to each other, so many different people are all gathered around at one place as if we are all friends. No one has a bad time here at the Café Du Monde. Once we manage to find an empty table, our waitress arrives in her white uniform and paper hat to take our order. We knew what we were going to order before we even arrived, a wonderful cup of coffee with chicory and cream known as café au lait and some fresh beignets, square French donuts, deep fried and covered in powdered sugar As we wait for our order, I get to sit back, relax, and soak it all in. It’s like the whole city of New Orleans is all summed up in one place; there are people of all kinds of social classes. You have the business men and women with powdered sugar on their black suits, the young couple on a date trying their hardest to stay clean while eating their beignets, the group of teenagers getting into a powdered sugar fight, the waiters and waitresses carrying trays loaded with water cups, coffee mugs, and plates with mountains of beignets and powdered sugar on them, and the poor Cajun man on the sidewalk entertaining us with an old jazz tune on his trumpet Our waitress returns and presents us with our coffee and beignets. The aroma of the hot beignets with the freshly brewed café au lait instantly brings back wonderful memories of past visits to New Orleans. It’s the smell of hot fried dough and fresh, well-made coffee that can only be found at Café Du Monde. I take my first bite, and it’s just like I remember, so sweet and tasty, that it just melts in my mouth. My moment of pure bliss ends once I realize I’ve got sugar all over the place, my laughter only spreading it. Then I start on my coffee; the warm mug in my hands is a very calming feeling. The smell of the combination of chicory coffee and cream is like nothing else. I take my first sip and my bliss returns. This time the taste is even better that I remembered. To my left I can hear the man on the trumpet playing an excellent version of “When the Saints Go Marching In”. To my right I can hear the distant whistle of the Creole Queen on the Mississippi River. In this moment I am at peace. Drinking great coffee, eating delicious beignets, surrounded by people I love in the most beautiful city. It’s a perfect way to end a wonderful night in the Big Easy. As they say in New Orleans, “Laissez les bon temps Roulez” - Let the good times roll.
