Last year I was fortunate to visit New Orleans for the first time thanks to a generous invitation by the Harrahs New Orleans Hotel and Casino, to attend Southern Decadence New Orlean's longest running gay event.

And a visit to New Orleans without venturing on a weird yet wonderful Ghost tour of the French Quarter / Le Vieux Carre is like visiting Paris and skipping the Eiffel Tower.

So I did just that, appropriately on my last night. And what an experience it was! French Quarter Phantoms Tours conveniently start from Flanagan's pub where we all had a couple of drinks to calm our nerves ... and basically get us into the "spirit" of things.

We left the bar with our knowledgeable and humorous tour guide for an hour and half of local history, haunted house tales and ghost-bustings!

We couldn't help but look at every bedroom window of the hotels, bars and homes along our way just in case we did happen to see some lonely figure looking out!

I have had a few supernatural experiences in my life and given the place, history and feel of the night, I wasn't too surprised the next day when I checked my photos to reveal that some of them had not turned OUT as I had wished. I will say this... in the years that I have held a camera in my hand, I have never managed to shoot so many "ghosted" shots.

...Perhaps the friendly spirits along our French Quarter trek had some part to play. You decided for yourself.

Most of the hotels along our trek look innocent enough yet some hide a dark and sinister history! But don't let that worry you as ghosts don't exist.

Towards the end of our tour, we were cold, tired and thanks to our tour guide, our nerves were pretty frayed and low in spirits. There was only one cure for this, and we decided it was time for another drink.

We did just that, at the Pirate's Alley Cafe And Old Absinthe House near Jackson Square and St Louis Cathedral. No need to tell you what we had to drink!

I'm glad I left New Orleans with a whole diverse of experiences, make sure this is one that you don't miss!