The Story of My Life so Far - Part 33 - Cruise on the Jeanne d'Arc: Panama City, Panama Canal, New Orleans

This is the story of my life so far: 67 years and counting.
Prequel: A Brief History of my Family in France

The story starts here
Previous episode: Part 32

---

After the repairs to the Victor Schoelcher in Salina Cruz, we joined the Jeanne d'Arc and went to the port of Balboa near Panama City.

Panama City

We moored in the port of Balboa.
At this time, the Panama Canal was still part of the Panama Canal Zone managed by the United States, and Balboa was a town in the Canal Zone and not part of Panama City, the capital of Panama. After October 1st 1979, Balboa became a district of Panama City.

Panama City Today
source

We stayed only two days in Balboa/Panama City.

The only memory I have is that we went to a "night club", la Gruta Azul (the Blue Grotto). I am not going to describe into details what we saw there!

Panama Canal

We took the Panama Canal on March 5th 1971.

A Ship in the Panama Canal
source

Of course, we went through the famous Miraflores locks with their "mules".

A Mule in one of the Miraflores Locks
source

And we passed under the Bridge of the Americas.

Bridge of the Americas
source

New Orleans

Then, we went North-North-West, passed between Cancun (Mexico) and Cuba, and arrived in New Orleans (In French: La Nouvelle-Orléans), where we spent a week.

Of course, we visited the French Quarter. In particular, we went to Preservation Hall, that has been established ten years before, to listen to some traditional jazz.

Preservation Hall
source

As you can see on the picture above, you could request some tunes, but asking for When the Saints Go Marching In (The Saints) was the most expensive request. This was already the case in 1971.

We left New Orleans on March 16th to go to French territory: Fort de France, in Martinique.

---

Continue to Part 34

---

If you like this story, please consider following me @vcelier

Summary
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7
Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14
Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17 - Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21
Part 22 - Part 23 - Part 24 - Part 25 - Part 26 - Part 27 - Part 28
Part 29 - Part 30 - Part 31 - Part 32