Early Morning, New Orleans' French Quarter

Scents:

• Wet asphalt
• Stale beer
• On Bourbon Street? Vomit
• Coffee and beignets from open doorways
• Pralines baking
• Oyster shells

Sounds:

• Sidewalks being hosed down and cleaned for the day
• Garbage trucks and delivery vans making frequent stops
• Shouts from vendors at the market
• Ships' horns from the Mississippi
• Quiet conversation of early-rising tourists
• Clatter of the streetcar that runs along the river
• Soft jazz drifting out of open doorways

Sights:

• Shopkeepers taking out trash and sweeping the sidewalks in front of their businesses
• Beer trucks stopped in front of bars, drivers delivering dolly loads of beer
• Bakery trucks, delivery huge fresh French loaves for po-boys
• Sunlight glistening on the wet streets
• The red riverside streetcar behind the market
• French Market vendors putting out vegetables and trinkets to sell
• Clean, white-shoed tourists dabbing powdered sugar off their shirts and sipping cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde
• Carriage drivers lining up their mules and carriages along Decatur, waiting for fares
• Artists arranging paintings along the wrought-iron fence around Jackson Square
• Tarot readers doing the same

Tastes:

• Hot crisp beignets covered in powdered sugar
• The tang on the air from the river
• Smooth chicory coffee laced with milk