Walking Around The French Quarter & Coffee & Beignets 3/28/2010

This morning Mom and I left early to drive into New Orleans and do some sightseeing and have coffee and beignets in the French Quarter.

The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans (La Nouvelle Orléans in French) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré ("Old Square" in French) as it was known then. While the area is still referred to as the Vieux Carré by some, it is more commonly known as the French Quarter today, or simply "The Quarter." The district as a whole is a National Historic Landmark, and contains numerous individual historic buildings. It was affected relatively lightly by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as compared to other areas of the city and the region as a whole. The Quarter is subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area. The most common definition of the French Quarter includes all the land stretching along the Mississippi River from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue (12 blocks) and inland to North Rampart Street (seven to nine blocks). It equals an area of 78 sq. blocks. Some definitions, such as city zoning laws, exclude the properties facing Canal Street, which had already been redeveloped by the time architectural preservation was considered, and the section between Decatur Street and the river, much of which had long served industrial and warehousing functions. Any alteration to structures in the remaining blocks is subject to review by the Vieux Carré Commission, which determines whether the proposal is appropriate for the historic character of the district. Its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Esplanade Avenue to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, Canal Street, Decatur Street and Iberville Street to the south and the Basin Street, St. Louis Street and North Rampart Street to the west. Many of the buildings date from before New Orleans became part of the United States, although there are some late 19th century and early 20th century buildings in the area as well. Since the 1920s the historic buildings have been protected by law and cannot be demolished, and any renovations or new construction in the neighborhood must be done according to regulations to match the period historic architectural style. Most of the French Quarter's architecture was built during the Spanish rule over New Orleans. The Great New Orleans Fire (1788) and another great fire in 1794 destroyed most of the Quarter's old French colonial architecture, leaving the colony's new Spanish overlords to rebuild it according to more modern tastes—and strict new fire codes, which mandated that all structures be physically adjacent and close to the curb to create a firewall. The old French peaked roofs were replaced with flat tiled ones, and now-banned wooden siding with fire-resistant stucco, painted in the pastel hues fashionable at the time. As a result, colorful walls and roofs and elaborately decorated ironwork balconies and galleries from both the 18th century and 19th centuries abound. (In southeast Louisiana, a distinction is made between "balconies", which are self supporting and attached to the side of the building, and "galleries" which are supported from the ground by poles or columns.) Long after the U.S. purchase of Louisiana, Francophone creole descendants of French and Spanish colonists lived in this part of town, and the French language was often heard there as late as the start of the 1920s. When Anglophone Americans began to move in after the Louisiana Purchase, they mostly built just upriver, across modern day Canal Street. Canal Street became the meeting place of two cultures, one francophone creole and the other anglophone American. (Local landowners had retained architect and surveyor Barthelemy Lafon to subdivide their property to create an American suburb). The median of the wide boulevard became a place where the two contentious cultures could meet and bilingually do business. As such, it became known as the "neutral ground", and this name persists in the New Orleans area for medians. In the late 19th century the Quarter became a less fashionable part of town, and many immigrants from southern Italy and Ireland settled in the section. In the early 20th century the Quarter's cheap rents and air of age and neglected decay attracted a bohemian and artistic community. On December 21, 1965, the "Vieux Carre Historic District" was designated a National Historic Landmark. In the 1980s many long-term Quarter residents were driven away by rising rents as property values rose dramatically with expectations of windfalls from the planned 1984 World's Fair nearby. More of the neighborhood became developed for the benefit of tourism. The French Quarter remains a combination of residential, hotels, guest houses, bars and tourist-oriented commercial properties. The most famous of the French Quarter streets, Bourbon Street, or Rue Bourbon, is famous for its drinking establishments. Most of the bars frequented by tourists are new but the Quarter also has a number of notable bars with interesting histories. The Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street has kept its name even though for almost a century absinthe was illegal in the United States. Pat O'Brien's Bar is well-known for both inventing the famous red cocktail, Hurricane, as well as having the first Dueling Piano Bar. Pat O'Brien's is located at 718 St. Peter Street. Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is a tavern located on the corner of Bourbon Street and St. Philip Street. The tavern's building, built sometime before 1772, is one of the older still standing structures in New Orleans (the Ursuline Convent, for example, is older) and has been called the oldest continually occupied bar in the United States. According to legend the structure was once owned by the pirate Jean Lafitte, though as with many things involving Lafitte, no documentation of this exists. The Napoleon House bar & restaurant is in the former home of mayor Nicholas Girod; the name comes from an unrealized plot to rescue Napoleon I from his exile in St. Helena and bring him to New Orleans. The original Johnny White's bar is a favorite of bikers. In 2005 an off-shoot called Johnny White's Hole in the Wall, along with Molly's at the Market, drew national media attention as the only businesses in the city to stay open throughout Hurricane Katrina and the tribulations of the weeks after the storm. The Bourbon Pub and Oz, both located at the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann, are the two largest gay clubs in New Orleans. Café Lafitte in Exile, located at the intersection of Bourbon and Dumaine is the oldest continuously running gay bar in the United States. These and other gay establishments sponsor the raucous Southern Decadence Festival during Labor Day weekend. This festival is often referred to as New Orleans' Gay Mardi Gras. St. Ann Street is often called "the Lavender Line" in reference to it being on the edge of the French Quarter's predominately gay district. While there is a gay population throughout the French Quarter, the portion of the Quarter that is northeast of St. Ann Street is generally considered to be the Gay District. New Orleans and its French Quarter are one of only a few places in the United States where possession and consumption of alcohol in open containers is allowed on the street. The neighborhood contains many restaurants, ranging from formal to casual, patronized by both visitors and locals. Some are well known landmarks, such as Antoine's and Tujague's, which have been in business since the 19th century; Arnaud's, Galatoire's, Broussard's and Brennan's are only slightly less venerable. Less historic, but also well-known French Quarter restaurants include those run by famous chefs Paul Prudhomme ("K-Paul's") and Emeril Lagasse ("NOLA"). There are several types of accommodations in the French Quarter ranging from large international chains to bed and breakfasts to time share condominiums to small guest houses with only one or two rooms. Hotel Maison De Ville and the Audubon Cottages were built as a townhouses in 1800. The Audubon Cottages were home to Antoine Amedée Peychaud during its history. Tennessee Williams (with the French Quarter providing the setting for arguably his most famous play, A Streetcar Named Desire) was a frequent guest and the hotel works to maintain its historic ambiance.


We got there about 8:30 and the limited parking is awful at best. We drove around and drove around and thought we found a place to park but we didn't dare as they were going to be filming a movie there and you could only park till 11:00AM. We thought we found another one but it was for residential parking only and you needed a sticker to park there. Well we did finally find a place and started walking. We did bring one cache with us that was in the middle of the French Quarter at Yo Mama's supposedly the best place to get a hamburg in the FQ and we found that quickly. Then we walked and walked up one street and down the other, walked back and forth and across and up and down again as it seemed like forever. We were looking for the Cafe Beignet and weren't sure where it was because when we started we didn't know the name so we couldn't ask or look it up. Well we finally saw a couple of "guys" come out of an apartment for a smoke so we asked them and they told us exactly where it was and the funny thing was that we were on the right street (Bourbon Street) but we were about 7 blocks down to far so off we trudged. We finally got there and got our coffee and a dozen beignets and just sat and enjoyed them and had our coffee watching the world go by and the early morning goings on in the FQ. After we finished what we were going to eat of the beignets (we got enough for later and the next day) we walked a few more streets and saw what there was to see. There really aren't many shops in the FQ, just bars, restaurants, souvenir stores, girlie shows and hotels. We walked back to the car finally and set off to see the Lower Ninth Ward where a lot of the Hurricane Katrina damage was done and a very very seedy neighborhood. Well it was unbelievable as we drove through it and a little scary as the area was still very devastated with uninhabitable homes, streets torn up, debris all over the place and some strange people walking around. Well after seeing some of the damage that is still there after 5 years we headed for the Garden District.


Garden District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Charles Avenue to the north, 1st Street to the east, Magazine Street to the south and Toledano Street to the west. The National Historic Landmark district extends a little further. The area was originally developed between 1832 to 1900. It may be one of the best preserved collection of historic southern mansions in the United States. The 19th century origins of the Garden District illustrate wealthy newcomers building opulent structures based upon the prosperity of New Orleans in that era. This whole area was once a number of plantations, including the Livaudais Plantation. It was sold off in parcels to mainly wealthy Americans who did not want to live in the French Quarter with the Creoles. It became a part of the city of Lafayette in 1833, and was annexed by New Orleans in 1852. The district was laid out by New Orleans architect, planner and surveyor Barthelemy Lafon. Originally the area was developed with only a couple of houses per block, each surrounded by a large garden, giving the district its name. In the late 19th century some of these large lots were subdivided as Uptown New Orleans became more urban. This has produced a pattern for much of the neighborhood of any given block having a couple of early 19th century mansions surrounded by "gingerbread" decorated late Victorian houses. Thus the "Garden District" is now known for its architecture more than gardens per se. A slightly larger district (one block further west to Louisiana, one block farther north to Carondelet and three blocks farther east to Josephine) was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.

We drove around the area for almost an hour looking at all the old plantation homes, mansions, taking pictures and we didn't even see a quarter of the section. We stopped at Voodoo BBQ and got supper to take back to the RV. We headed back as I was tired and wanted to take it easy the rest of the day. We got back and watched TV and I did the blog and pictures and we had dinner and called it a day. Well until tomoorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick