Prior to arriving in New Orleans, we had made reservations for a number of tours and activities, with the result that we had something to do every day. This day started out with a mule-drawn carriage ride around the French Quarter (w). To quote from my 2001 trip log:
The French Quarter, or Vieux Carre, is the oldest section of the city, hugging a bend in the river. In this section, the streets are narrow, and the buildings are old. Of course, there's much more to the city now, but the French Quarter is the romantic, picturesque part.
Since the city has been, at various times, under French, Spanish and American control, all of the streets in the French Quarter have three names, in French, Spanish and English. For example: St. Philip St., Rue St. Phillipe, Calle San Felipe.
In the center of the Quarter is Jackson Square, also known as Place D'Armes, or Plaza de Armas. This was originally an arms depot (hence the French and Spanish names), and is now a city square, highlighted by a statue of Genl. Andrew Jackson (hence the English name).
On the north side of the city is Lake Pontchartrain. This is a large lake, about 30 miles north to south, and even longer east to west. And according to the tour guide, the average depth is 12 feet. I commented to Terry that you could damn near wade across it.
Much of the city is below sea level. The water is controlled by levees, and a series of canals, both above and under the ground.
The city was under French rule from 1718 to 1763, then under Spanish rule till 1802, when it briefly returned to French rule under Napoleon, who then sold it to the U.S. in the Louisiana Purchase.
Despite the name, most of the architecture in the French Quarter is Spanish. We were told that this was because the French built wooden buidings, most of which were destroyed by fires in 1788 and 1794. The Spanish apparently learned their lesson, and began building with brick and stucco, and these are the buildings that survive today. Here are a couple of examples:
The wrought iron railings on the balconies are prevalent throughout the quarter. And I discovered that if a balcony is held up by posts, as in the second picture above, it's not a balcony, but a gallery. So now you know.
Another interesting item about the French Quarter that I leared on this trip is that, although much of New Orleans is below sea level, the Quarter is one area that isn't. It sits on a small rise, which is why the original city was located there. Also, there are no overhead power lines in the Quarter, they're all underground. So when a hurricane hits and the power goes out and the city gets flooded, the lights are still on and the streets are still above water in the French Quarter.
The tour started in front of Jackson Square, where there were a dozen or so carriages lined up waiting for tourists. We found the one we had reserved, and got on board. Our tour guide was Lucy:
...and our mule was Marie Laveau (notice the green shoes - it was almost St. Patrick's Day):
Apparently, all the carriage rides use mules rather than horses, because mules can withstand higher temperatures than horses (in the summer, New Orleans gets really hot).
Along the way, Lucy regaled us with information about New Orleans and its history. As it happened, although each of the tours we took had a different focus, most of them included general information about New Orleans and its history. And all of the information was consistent; there were no contradictions between different tours. Which either means that the information we heard was essentially accurate, or that all the tour operators got together and agreed on their story! (I suspect the former.)
Throughout the Quarter, we saw a number of buildings painted in lively colors. I was particularly impressed by this one:
After the tour, we stopped at Cafe Du Monde (w) for coffee (well, I had hot chocolate) and beignets. Cafe Du Monde is a famous coffee shop which has been in business since 1862. Their menu is limited to coffee, hot chocolate and soft drinks, and of course, beignets (ben-yays). This is another N.O. specialty; they're essentially squares of dough, deep fried like donuts, and covered with about a pound of powdered sugar:
We then went for lunch, where I had alligator bites (chunks of alligator meat - yes, it really does taste like chicken), after which we had some time to kill before our next tour. The location where we were to meet our guide was right across from this park:
...named, of course, for Louis Armstrong (w). That arch is lit up at night, but I never got a picture of it.
Terry, Lucia and Esmond found a bench to sit on and wait for me while I explored the park. Of course, there was a sculpture of Mr. Armstrong himself:
Wandering around, I saw several other sculptures. This one intrigued me:
...but it had no plaque to explain it. For the rest of them, I'll let the plaques tell the story:
These were all musicians I had heard of. Then I saw a statue of another artist that I recognized, but I didn't know she was from New Orleans:
While I was wandering around the park, I heard a sound like POP! POP! POP! off in the distance, and I wondered if it was the sound of gunshots. A little while later, I discovered that sure enough, it was. There was a man sitting on a bench, who had apparently been shot in the leg, and a number of other people crowding around, and the police were just arriving. I left.
Just before the tour started, I needed to use the bathroom. I went into a bar on the corner, and when I found the restroom, I was confronted by this sign:
So I gave the bartender a dollar and went to the bathroom.
It was now time to meet our guide for the second tour of the day, a music tour. Our guide, David Higgins, was a very entertaining gentleman, the son of Billy Higgins, a prominent jazz drummer. The tour turned out to be more of a lecture than a tour - more talking than walking - but it was very interesting and informative. His main theme was how African musical traditions influenced and shaped American popular music - primarily jazz, of course, but also blues, rock, R & B, soul, gospel, rap, hip-hop, etc.
One place he did take us to was back across the street to Armstrong Park, to an area known as Congo Square (w). I didn't get a picture of it, but I found this picture online:
Apparently, slaves in Louisiana were slightly better off than slaves in other Southern states. The Code Noir (w), or Black Code, among other things, set rules for how owners could treat slaves, and outlawed some of the worst treatments. The code also mandated that slaves have the day off on Sundays. They could then work for themselves on that day, and earn money to eventually buy their freedom. They would also get together on Sundays to sing, dance and play music. At first, they would have these gatherings anywhere they could find space, but in 1817, a space was set aside for them across from the French Quarter, and this space became known as Congo Square.
Here's a picture of the tour group with David:
That small keyboard he's holding - it actually hung on a strap around his neck - is something called a melodica. You play it by blowing into a mouthpiece on one end.
After the tour, we went for drinks and dinner at Pat O'Briens Bar, and then back to the hotel. And that was it for the day.