After years of stagnant wage growth, rising living costs people in England and Wales have an average of just Â£7,780 in savings, according to figures from Halifax. Rising costs: The average cost of a funeral as risen by 80 per cent since 2004.
The first Mardi Gras festivities in Louisiana were held on March 3, 1699. On that day, a group of French explorers set up camp on the west bank of the Mississippi River, about 60 miles downriver from what is now New Orleans.
Travel Tips. Though most people associate Mardi Gras with New Orleans, Mobile, Alabama, began holding the festival in 1703, 15 years before it started in Louisiana. Based on a French Catholic tradition, the celebration is now a city-wide holiday in Mobile, where even schools close down to celebrate.