Hugh Laurie traded in his motorbike for a bicycle while he was shooting his new U.S. TV music special in New Orleans, Louisiana - so he could take in the sights and sounds of the city of his dreams properly.
The House star filmed the new Pbs concert special with his heroes Tom Jones and Dr. John and reveals he cycled around the Big Easy in between rehearsals and the show.
He tells WENN, "I would just ride. That was my greatest pleasure, simply riding around that city. There was not barely a corner that you can turn without finding the way somebody's painted their front door, the things somebody's got hanging in their window; some kid on a doorstep, strumming a guitar; or somebody playing a clarinet somewhere... There was a lot of bike riding there.
"Everywhere you turn, it's just a city of endless marvels. And of course, running through it is this awe-inspiring river. I mean, I would go down to the river. It's a very powerful thing. It exerts a great hold on all of us, I think, to see a cataract of that size sort of coursing through the city.
"I loved everything about New Orleans, the smell of it, the food; I gained 30 pounds in about four days."