Tea Partay: Hot-tea!

Even though I was travelling alone for work, I made a point to both begin and end my journey with high tea in New Orleans.

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. --Henry James

The first tea was at Le Salon in the Windsor Court Hotel. There were a number of folks having tea. I expected hats in the south and there were none in sight. I also found it intriguing that there were two tables of men with dainty dollies and petite sweets in front of them.

As I'm sitting enjoying my tea (pictures below), the girls at the table behind me are making a bit of a commotion. I turned around and asked them what was going as they pointed to the lobby as Quentin Tarantino and James Marsden (27 dresses!) are waiting for the elevator! Just then one table of men having tea gets up to leave. The girls inform me that it is Rufus Sewell of a Knight's Tale, a director and a screenplay writer.

While we didn't want to accost him while taking tea, we pounced like kittens as he headed for the lobby door - "hot-tea!" He is even from England. As I was posing for the picture below, I asked him "Are you here filming the vampire movie?" He replied with his rather dreamy British accent "Oh yes, I am the king of the vampires!" He wasn't short on confidence, but very nice and very handsome! He’s filming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – June 2012 ladies!

James Carville and Mary Matalin were in the lobby when we returned from picture taking. I definitely stumbled upon the celebrity hotel. I must say this may have been the most invigorating high tea I've ever experienced!