2026.01.06 D'Arcy walks the Joan of Arc parade

D'Arcy walked in his first Mardi Gras parade.  The Joan of Arc parade is always the first parade of the Mardi Gras season and is held on Jan 6, Joan's birthday.  For the parade he changed his name slightly.  He reversed his two first names (D'Arcy John", dropped the "Y" and switched to French to make his new name "Jean d'Arc", the male version of "Jeanne d'Arc".

He dropped me off at St. Mary's Church on Chartres next to the Ursuline Convent.  That was close to the end of the route so I would not have to walk far to meet him at the end.

D'Arcy was supposed to be an anonymous foot soldier carrying a pennant.  When he got there they told him that he was doing security instead.  It took a while to find out that he was security for the queen of the parade.  Then someone shoved a pole with a sign on it into his hand.  Then Antoinette, one of the main organizers, came by, saw the sign which said "Carnival Has Commenced" among other things and told him that the sign needed to be the very last thing in the parade so he was moved to the back.  He had a great time working the crowds and even got a number of groups to sing "Happy Birthday" to Joan.

Since he was the last person in the parade he was immediately followed by the police escort.  At one point the officer must have been distracted because he nearly ran over D'Arcy.  He didn't get hit but it was close enough that people around him gasped.

After the parade D'Arcy and I went to Vaughan's Restaurant and took more pictures.