In 2024, I was very fortunate to spend Christmas week in Paris, France. The following year, I had no plans to make a big trip – or any trip – for that holiday week. But, as the calendar ticked away and December moved closer, I became restless. Maybe it was the memory of a delicious, flaky chocolate croissant, that crisp Sancerre wine with my holiday dinner, or how easy the subway was to navigate that stirred within me a desire to “get out of dodge” for Christmas.

I didn’t want to travel out of the country and wanted to contain my expenses. No way was I travelling North into colder weather. I did not envision myself at Christmas on a beach. After careful consideration – meaning, the process of elimination – I settled on New Orleans. Ah… The Big Easy. The Crescent City. With its unique vibe, music, history, and cuisine, it seems like a perfect choice.

A wonderful and unexpected benefit from my solo travel experience to Paris resulted in a friendship with one of the women on the trip, Julie. Taking a chance, I fired off a hopeful email to see if she shared my restlessness and shared my nostalgic longing for a travel excursion. I asked if she had any interest in spending Christmas in New Orleans.

Voila! My answer arrived swiftly. And it was a resounding yes. Diane Keaton had recently passed away, and it hit us hard. She confessed that since Keaton’s passing she herself felt the urge to “go, go, go.” My feeling about this? Life is short, so what are we waiting for?

Within a few days, Julie located and booked the absolute perfect Airbnb loft nestled on a residential street in the French Quarter, we confirmed our dates of travel and confirmed our flights. Game on! Soon after, we compared our research and got on a Zoom to lock down key reservations for dinner and such. Our Airbnb owner Bret was super helpful with suggestions!

Arrival and Searching for That Perfect Cocktail

A Sazerac is a classic New Orleans cocktail similar to an Old Fashioned. It’s made with rye whiskey, Peychaud’s bitters, sugar, and a distinctive absinthe or Herbsaint rinse (aromatic anise-flavored liqueur), served chilled in an Old Fashioned glass with a lemon twist garnish.

The evening we arrived in The Big Easy, we hoofed it through the dimly lit streets of the French Quarter carefully navigating the treacherous broken sidewalks, heads down to avoid the sudden gaping holes under foot. No sprained ankles allowed! Afterall, nothing could impede our hunt for that iconic local elixir and the Hermes Bar of the famous Antoine’s Restaurant. Yes, the oldest family-owned restaurant that brought to us Oysters Rockefeller and has hosted generations of celebrities, presidents, and royalty in the heart of the French Quarter.

We were not disappointed. It remains one of the highlights of our trip. The dim lights glowed over the polished wooden bar. Small groups gathered, smiled, chatted, sipped. We enjoyed some delicious appetizers suggested by our excellent waiter. And their Sazerac cocktail was superb! Here is their recipe: Sazerac rye whiskey, sugar, Peychaud’s bitters, Herbsaint anise liqueur. It arrived in a glass without ice cubes. Yet, the contents and glass were perfectly chilled. A large peel of lemon rested at the bottom of the amber pool. Every sip was an awakening. I like a good Bourbon Manhattan, but this knocked it squarely out of first place for me.

Ambiance, excellent service, delicious food, a perfect cocktail. These are the hallmarks of the Hermes Bar experience. We highly recommend it should you visit New Orleans!

Christmas Eve Dinner in New Orleans

Réveillon in New Orleans is a French Creole holiday tradition featuring multi-course feasts on Christmas Eve.  Many city restaurants offer special prix-fixe menus throughout December with dishes like gumbo, shrimp etouffee, and custardy bread pudding. We examined several menus of highly rated restaurants and booked Christmas Eve dinner at Tujague’s, the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans.

We dined on:

• Mushroom & Caramelized Onion Crêpes
• A fresh winter salad of baby kale and mixed greens with goat cheese, roasted walnuts, smoked salt, cranberry and raspberry vinaigrette.
• Pan-seared Gulf fish topped with crawfish étouffée, served with “after the boil” fried fingerlings and brown butter haricots verts.
• Shrimp & Grits: Gulf shrimp in a red wine tasso cream sauce over Parmesan grits, topped with crispy fried tasso.
• Dessert: White Chocolate Eggnog Bread Pudding

The food was pretty good, but overall we felt we would have had a better experience elsewhere. The décor in the room we dined was, well, to be honest, ugly. The staff seemed stressed and were friendly but not attentive. The bread pudding we had in Hermes Bar was better. This restaurant might be a better choice for any other time.

Beignets, Holiday Tea, and Gumbo

On the first full morning of our visit, we made a beeline to Café du Monde for a plateful of little fried pillows of dough under a blanked of powdered sugar called Beignets. Each order consisted of three. Had we paid attention, we would have shared one serving.  Checked off the “to do” list, we headed down Royal and Magazine Streets to walk off the sugar calories and explore the local antique shops and galleries.

I booked entry in advance to the WWII Museum, where I only had time to explore a small part of it and watch the two excellent movies they show. I was moved to tears by the reality of how very young the “boys” were who were sent off to war, how Americans pulled together as one against a villainous enemy, and the destruction on so many levels. These were the realities of my great-uncles and parents who were becoming teenagers as Hitler’s murderous rampage devoured Europe. I highly recommend a visit and allocating several hours or visiting over two days to absorb the full effect of this historically significant museum.

We booked Afternoon Tea at the Windsor Court Hotel. The décor was lovely, our server, Arnell, was beyond delightful, and the food and tea were superb. We started with a sparkling cocktail, and each had a pot of our choice of tea. The menu consisted of little sandwiches, scones, and confections. For anyone who has not enjoyed a relaxing “high tea” like this, it’s a very nice experience especially surrounded by festive glittering holiday decorations and mountains of poinsettias. Check that one off the list!

On Christmas Day, we were surprised and delighted to discover that many places were open for business. We wandered down Royal Street and through some fancy hotels to see how lavish or understated they were decorated for the holidays. We ended up at Elysian Bar, which is a renovated Church Rectory (residence) that has a bar and restaurant inside. We moseyed past several beautifully decorated dining rooms to the bar in the back for a cocktail and sipped them in the outside patio garden. Afterward, we lamented our late discovery of this gem and wished we been here for brunch. Elysian Bar is a must-visit recommendation for anyone travelling to New Orleans.

I am a person who embraces options and choices and rejects inertia. So, the gumbo sampler at The Gumbo Shop was designed for people like me! This was truly a cuisine highlight that far exceeded our experience at Tujague’s. I selected three out of the four gumbo choices presented. Our waiter, Tim, was great!  As my soup spoon made its way from cup to cup to cup, I still cannot tell you which one I liked best: chicken and sausage, chicken and shrimp, or the creamy artichoke and shrimp gumbo. Delicious. Delicious. Delicious. Another highly recommended dining experience!

Laissez les bons temps rouler

Let the good times roll! And they roll best with the musicians and live bands in the bars and on the streets of New Orleans. A short Uber ride delivered us to Tipitina’s for “Stanton Moore and Friends Holiday Extravaganza.” It was standing room only, fabulously cheap beer, and awesome live performances by the host band and several guests. We were treated to great jazz musicians and guests who alternately performed a jazz tune and a riff on a holiday tune. It was great! We highly recommend this venue!

On Christmas, we got tickets for a live 45-minute concert at Preservation Hall. To describe this venue as the least pretentious fire hazard of a performing space imaginable barely describes it. Of course, it’s all about the skilled musicians, the perfect sound, the joy of their joy as they display their craft. I don’t believe a visit to New Orleans would be complete without this experience. We highly recommend this venue! Get tickets early for your hard bench seat. Standing room only is unpleasant. Avoid it if you are claustrophobic.

Our Airbnb, the Weather, Heading Home

We really lucked out with our loft. It was spacious, well-equipped, clean, comfortable, and safe. One thing I really enjoyed was the private garden, where I enjoyed a steaming cup of coffee each morning in what felt like a tropical oasis around me. The location was excellent. And to our surprise, it was quiet at night.

Two streets away was Louis Armstrong Park. One afternoon, after feeling the effects of walking my legs off days in a row, I opted for a restful saunter (and some park bench sitting) in the park. I picked up a fantastic, iced hazelnut latte from Perk Coffee & Community across the street – another excellent customer service experience! The sun was in perfect position to capture photos of the park you see here.

It’s always a good idea to check the weather forecast just before you finish packing. Three weeks prior to trip, the weather forecast was low- to mid-50s daily. Two days prior to the trip, it climbed to mid- to high-70s. What fun it is excavating summer clothes all neatly packed away. Layers. That’s all you can do. On the day we left New Orleans, the temperature was climbing to 78 degrees. I returned home to 24 degrees and a foot of snow on my car in the airport parking lot in Hartford.

We had booked flights home late enough in the afternoon to allow us to savor a last morsel of the French Quarter. Julie had discovered Esplanade Avenue just two streets away that led directly down to the riverfront and eateries. We walked down this street with its wide tree lined median, past impressive large homes. But what really tipped us off to the affluence there were the perfect sidewalks! They were wide, and even, and in perfect condition. We could amble along and actually look up at the architecture without fearing we’d plummet into a gaping hole in the sidewalk or trip on a section with a 5 inch height gap.

We walked down for a final breakfast at French Toast restaurant recommended by our Airbnb host, Bret. Wowzer! We could not have had a better experience. Our waitress Julie was ebullient but not annoying, helpful and attentive, and very much worth a big tip. I still cannot stop talking about the best grits I’ve ever had in my life. And, I’ve spent a bit of time in and lived in the Carolinas and Georgia. These were creamy and bursting with flavor (from the addition of butter and cheese). And, I had these amazing little spherical Danish pancake puffs with lemon curd called Aebelskivers. I’ve never had anything like them! Another highly recommended dining experience!

Where to Next Christmas?

I don’t know if I’ll go on a trip for Christmas in 2026. Time will tell. I do get restless for travel, so I’m not taking the possibility off the table. My friend has been talking about Venice. I’ve been to Italy but not Venice. Do they decorate gondolas for Christmas? Oh, she reminded me that the trains go from Venice to Paris. But my research (I can’t help myself) tells me that we can fly for less and get there faster. Very tempting.

 

Travel References

Armstrong Park
Perk Coffee & Community
Airbnb Loft Retreat
Tujague’s
Hermes Bar
French TOAST
The Gumbo Shop
Elysian Bar
WWII Museum
Tipitina’s
Preservation Hall