Give In Before You Give Up at New Orleans Mardi Gras
If you have ever thought about visiting New Orleans, okay that was really kind of a joke with the intention of having a reader respond with, ‘are you kidding?’ And actually there is no punch line, the entire point was to stress the idea that almost if not everyone has at least thought about and wanted to visit New Orleans at some point in their lives. And many of those people fulfill their wish, while others are simply reminded of it around Shrove Tuesday of each year. And for anyone who wonders what I’m talking about at this point, you should probably give up. Or, better yet give in to your desire to visit one of the luxury hotels New Orleans and find out what Mardi Gras is all about.
First, you might want to know what Mardi Gras and Shrove Tuesday have in common. Well, everything actually, other than their language. They both refer to Fat Tuesday with the former being the French version and the latter being an older English version. Metaphorically they both represent the Carnival celebration traditions that occur just before Ash Wednesday, which the first day of Lent. This is a period of solemn abstinence and generally includes fasting and the giving up of other habits.
Mardis Gras, or Carnival, in addition to being Fat Tuesday or the day before the beginning of Lent refers to that immediate season and traditionally been a period of abandoned revelry and indulgence. This has been a time when all social roles and norms are turned upside and anything goes. This excess ends abruptly on Ash Wednesday when the period of giving up begins. New Orleans has the largest and most famous Mardi Gras celebration in this country. People from all over the nation make an annual pilgrimage to Louisiana for the chance to catch some beads and other goods along the Riverwalk. Parades, live music, costumes, great food are all part of this annual event. So, if you’re going to go to New Orleans, make sure you pack a mask or costume of some kind in your suitcase.
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