New Orleans and I operate on two different rhythms. The city is just going to sleep as I make my way to the French Quarter for early morning coffee and beignets at the Café du Monde.

On my first day in the Big Easy, as I passed by the deserted courtyard of the House of Blues, I was greeted by the familiar disco beat of Labelle’s, “Lady Marmalade”. For a moment I thought I was imagining it. So I stopped and listened and sure enough, there it was…

Patty Labelle and her sisters extending that unmistakable invitation in French — probably the best known French phrase in America. Voulez-vous?

It was the perfect a start for my first day in New Orleans — my own personal greeting. The quintessential anthem for a city that struts its stuff nightly on Bourbon Street.  You gotta love a city that comes with its own soundtrack!

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/PattieS