Roadtrip - From Chicago to New Orleans

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Chicago

  Two days to discover the "Windy City", with its airy and pleasant urban setting. The sweetness of life between skyscrapers, lakes, and gardens: Chicago invites you to take long walks, while in the evening, you can enjoy the many stand-up shows performed on Broadway, the small blues or jazz bars, or the revered sporting events in this city. Don’t hesitate to take a cruise on the Chicago River with an architecture theme to admire, from the water, the city’s most beautiful buildings. Devastated by a fire in 1871, Chicago was rebuilt by great names in 20th-century architecture (Sullivan, Burnham, Frank Lloyd Wright), competing in creative flair. An almost futuristic style gives this city an unprecedented architectural value. On board the First Lady, you embark on a cruise among the skyscrapers to admire the fifty most beautiful buildings in the city, including: the Willis Tower, Navy Pier, Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, Merchandise Mart, Lyric Opera, and many others. The guides are all volunteers from the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Bring your Chicago Explorer Pass: you will be able to access a third attraction of your choice, among about thirty major sites in the city. To do: - Stroll through the different parks, especially Millennium Park on the shore of Lake Michigan, dotted with sculptures and interactive fountains with giant screens - A boat ride on Lake Michigan - Visit one of the countless museums in the city - In the evening, attend a stand-up show or a sporting event - Let time slip away in a small blues or jazz bar.

• day 2

  CHICAGO - ST LOUIS

  Pick up the rental car and drive to St Louis, the capital of Missouri. To see along the way: Springfield, where Abraham Lincoln lived for many years, on the old Route 66. Speeding through the Midwest plains, the famous Gateway Arch of St Louis appears, at the crossroads of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Overnight in a simple and modern downtown address, with an indoor pool.

• day 3

  SAINT-LOUIS - NASHVILLE

  Route southeast to Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, occasionally crossing bridges with the region's typical architecture. Two nights will allow you to make the most of this city that is sure to enchant you. "Music City USA," a true Mecca of country music, has welcomed icons: Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and even Johnny Hallyday. The city, full of music stores, is fueled by bluegrass and hillbillies, whose emblems are the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. In the evening, bar and club hopping in Printers Alley, Second Street, or Broadway is a must. Fun fact – The TV series Nashville, dedicated to the city and country music, is filmed entirely on location; you can even recognize several authentic neighborhoods and addresses.

• day 4

  NASHVILLE - MEMPHIS

  We leave behind country music, the memory of its iconic figures and its catchy tunes, to reach the vast Memphis, capital of blues and rock, set on the banks of the Mississippi River. We settle there again for two nights. The Memphis Music Attraction Pass, which gives you access to the city's main attractions, is not to be missed: Sun Studio, the Rock ’N’ Soul Museum, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the National Civil Rights Museum, and the Graceland Platinum. Guitar enthusiasts can also visit the Gibson factory. And when night falls, you must head to Beale Street, made famous by its many clubs, including the illustrious B.B. King's, to attend a live concert.

• day 5

  MEMPHIS - CLARKSDALE

  Route south to Clarksdale, one of the legendary towns on the Blues Route. This is where Robert Johnson is said to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his incomparable talent. Surrounded by cotton fields, it is poetically nicknamed the "golden buckle of the cotton belt." Stop for the night at a place that combines authenticity and rusticity, enhanced by a touch of originality. Among old cars and abandoned barns are scattered about twenty former sharecropper cabins. Everything is original, and the night feels like a journey back in time.

• day 6

  CLARKSDALE - NATCHEZ

  Route south to reach Natchez, a former cotton capital with French origins. Founded in 1716, it is one of the oldest and best-preserved Southern cities. You spend the night there in a beautiful 19th-century mansion, set among centuries-old oaks. The building was successively a presbytery and a girls' school before being converted into a bed & breakfast. Hospitality and a gentle way of life reign in these places, as do charm and the promise of a certain letting go. To see: the Dunleith plantation and the Longwood plantation, with its unique, never-finished and probably haunted history; the Natchez Trace, a tourist route that crosses the three states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.

• day 7

  NATCHEZ - NEW ORLEANS

  This road leads you to the Laura Plantation, steeped in Creole culture, undoubtedly one of the prettiest historic homes in the region. Stop at Baton Rouge, a very pretty city with very interesting museums to better understand the culture and history of Louisiana. Then continue on to New Orleans, the most French of American cities. You will stay there for three nights.