New Orleans: The Big Easy gets its groove back

by Darren Lee

Banish from your mind all those images of a city reeling from the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina: four and a half years on, New Orleans is a destination revitalised and rejuvenated.

While it would be premature to say that its embattled population is no longer experiencing the daily repercussions of one of the last decade’s costliest natural disasters, there is a resolute spirit and fierce sense of civic pride which is helping the city overcome its recent difficulties and gradually move on.

To mark the release of Disney’s groundbreaking new animation The Princess and the Frog, set in New Orleans during the 1920s jazz age, Orange visited Louisiana’s most famous city and indulged in the delicious cuisine, exuberant music and colourful nightlife it had to offer.