Skyline. City of New Orleans. When I was little I dreamed of this place. From the outskirts, from Big Branch, from Thibodaux, from Donaldsonville and Paradis, we called this place "The City." Oddly enough my first off-the-top-of-my-head New Orleans memory is of a field trip with my high school international club to the french quarter. We rode in a blue bus across the causeway. I bought a small bottle made of blue glass from a trinket salesman in the french market. I saw two women kiss outside of the pub on bourbon street. Then further back there are some early childhood memories of mardi gras. Canal street. Happy.