A free ferry ride from Canal Street brings you within ten minutes or so to the west bank and Algiers , a quiet residential neighborhood of pastel stucco Creole architecture and subtropical terraces. The main attraction is Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World , 223 Newton St (daily 9.30am-4.30pm; $11.50), where year-round you can see artists preparing, constructing and painting the enormous floats used in the Mardi Gras parades. It's a surreal experience wandering these massive warehouses past piles of dusty, grimacing has-beens from parades gone by. In keeping with the carnival spirit, there is plenty of opportunity to dress up, fool about and take photos - you're free to try on colossal Nixon and Marilyn papier maché heads, velvet cloaks and towering plumed headdresses. A complimentary minibus picks up and drops off at the ferry landing.

Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World

• Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World

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