- Three Days in New Orleans : Eating in the Big Easy
- Three Days in New Orleans : The Sights & Sounds
To see the city, my mom and I took a city bus tour and a walking tour of the Garden District. We also took the ferry over to Algiers Point. To get to my appointment with my Jin Shin Jyutsu teacher, we took the street car, which I love. Street car in San Francisco, tram in Hong Kong.
New Orleans Hop-on Hop-Off Tour
The Hop-on Hop-off bus tour is how we started our visit in New Orleans. It’s an easy way to get an overview of a city. The tour took us through the major sights, including Jackson Square, French Market, Basin Street Station (where we had a bathroom break), Canal Street, and Garden District. You can get tickets for the City Sightseeing Hop-on Hop-off bus pass for three days to see all the major sights. The pass also includes two 45-minute walking tours – Garden District and French Quarter.
We passed places such as Café du Monde, the entrance to Louis Armstrong Park, St Louis Cemetery, the riverfront, the Central Business District, and Louisiana Superdome. You can take a guided walking tour of St Louis Cemetery and learn about the history of the very interesting city of New Orleans.
St Louis Cemetery has one of the most popular spiritual pilgrimage sites in the US. This is the tomb of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau (1801-1881). A free-born woman of color and mixed ancestry, Marie was a devout Catholic and a magical arts practitioner. She had clients and followers from all strata of society. St Louis Cemetery is also on New Orleans ghost tours – people have reported seeing her ghost in the cemetery.
“Marie Laveau is no myth; she is no mere legend. While her reputation precedes her as the notorious Voudou Queen of New Orleans, in reality, she was a free woman of colour who ruled the city during antebellum New Orleans. This was no small feat. She was a devout Catholic, an independent businesswoman, a mother, and healer who lived her life in accordance with the corporal works of mercy. Stories abound about her magickal prowess, freeing men from the gallows and healing the sick from the brink of death. Her belief in Catholicism guided her life as well as her magick in such a distinct way that people all over the world are inspired by her spirit and her story.” -Denise, Alvarado, The Magic of Marie Laveau
Being in New Orleans the last week of January, Carnival was already in progress, with Mardi Gras on February 17. Stores already had the famously coloured decorations. Our hop-on hop-off tour bus had a cheerful gold, purple, and green ribbon on the sides. With great weather, this turned out to be a great time to visit New Orleans, a last-minute addition to our roadtrip.
Quick Links for this article – Café du Monde | French Market | Jackson Square | Basin Street Station | Joy Theatre | Louis Armstrong Park | St Louis Cemetery | Harrah’s Casino | Louisiana Superdome | Garden District | When to Visit New Orleans
Check out the Go City New Orleans: All Inclusive Pass. Choose from 1, 2, 3 or 5 consecutive days. Tip – activate the pass in the morning. Use it on your iPhone or Android phone to plan your New Orleans trip with this pass to more than 25 of the jazz city’s top attractions. These include –
- Paddlewheeler Creole Queen Cruise
- Ultimate Swamp Adventure
- Vue Orleans Observation Deck (see the city on the 34th floor and the only 360° indoor and outdoor observation deck)
- Adventures in New Orleans Bus Tour
- Mardi Gras World with Transportation
- New Orleans School of Cooking Demo
- Southern Meal at MRB Restaurant (age 21+)
- Walking Scavenger Hunt
- French Quarter History & Voodoo Tour (1 hr 45 minutes – walk through Congo Square and visit the most historic spots in the French Quarter. The guide will share stories about music, food, architecture, culture, literary history, Voodoo, and more.)
- Cajun Pride Swamp Tour by Boat
- New Orleans Pharmacy Museum
Walking the French Quarter
We stayed at Hotel Le Marais, on Conti Street, between Royal and Bourbon. What a great location – so easy to walk around the French Quarter, and just take in the sights. The old and distinctive colours and architecture. The shops and museums. The big trees and their canopies. And the music.
Named after a French ruling House, Bourbon Street stretches twelve blocks, taking you from Esplanade Avenue to Canal Street. Many of us know this street because of Mardi Gras. People tossing beads from the beautiful ornate iron balconies. Its neon signs, bars, strip clubs, restaurants serving Cajun Creole, entertainment. And music. Old school jazz. Jazz Manouche – Gypsy Jazz. Also here, Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo at 628 Bourbon Street.
A major tourist destination now, New Orleans has a history steeped in vice. From 1897 to 1917, the District (more commonly known as Storyville) was a red light area set up by an 1897 ordinance created by Alderman Sidney Story. It legalized prostitution, concentrating both white and black brothels in one part of the city. Conveniently located near the train station, Storyville serviced white locals and tourists who could choose from 50-cent joints to classier $10 places. Services, addresses, names, religion, and colour of sex workers were listed in the Blue Book, available for 25¢.
New Orleans itself began as a French colony in the 1690s. Nouvelle-Orléans grew around the central square, with the French Quarter (Vieux Carré) being the oldest neighbourhood. After the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), the territory was ceded to the Spanish. The historic buildings we see today in the French Quarter were first built in the Spanish era.
The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 brought English-speaking settlers into the area. Over time, New Orleans grew on products, like sugar, made on the backs of slaves and it became one of the biggest cities and ports in the country. As immigration increased, demographics shifted, and vice returning to the Quarter after Storyville closed, the French Creole moved out of the Quarter and a more bohemian culture grew. In the 1920s, residents of the Quarter became active in preserving this historic area of the city.
Pontalba Buildings on St Peter Street off Jackson Square. Elaborate ironwork of New Orleans.
New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, 514 Chartres Street. You can sign up for a tour. Pere Antoine Restaurant, 741 Royal Street at the corner of Royal and St Ann, serving Cajun and Creole dishes. (closed January 2025). Pere Antoine (Antonio de Sedella) is apparently connected to the hauntings of St Louis Cathedral.
Beautiful buildings with lush hanging plants. This photo of the wait staff taking a break in her long white apron against the ochre exteriors is one of my favourites from the trip.
Le Petite Theatre. Le Petit Théâtre Du Vieux Carré is New Orlean’s historic playhouse. Opened in 1916, it movd to its current home on St Peter Street about six years after.
Walking past Place d’Armes Hotel and Hotel Monteleone.
More Haunted Stories
Place d’Armes Hotel at 625 St Ann Street is housed in restored 18th and 19th century buildings. We walked through to the courtyard. A beautiful oasis, the courtyard garden with its cobblestone ground contains native tropical plants and a saltwater pool.
What this historic site may be more famous for is its ghosts. Place D’Armes Hotel is known as one of the most haunted places in what is known as the one of the most haunted cities in the US. The building was originally the first school, dating back to 1725, when Louisiana was a French colony. A fire at the school claimed many lives, including the headmistress, teachers, and students said to now haunt the grounds. It’s easy enough to book a tour, if you’re into that sort of thing. Let’s say I google all my hotels.
And if you do, you’ll find Hotel Monteleone at 214 Royal Street. In 1880 Antonio Monteleone left his native Sicily for New Orleans. An entrepreneurial spirit, Antonio had sold his shoe factory and bought a cobbler shop in his new home. In 1886, he purchased a 64-room hotel then known as Commercial Hotel and thus began the building of what would become Hotel Monteleone. He first added thirty rooms in the early 1900s and then 300 more when the exterior had Beaux-Arts flair added.
This grand hotel had guests such as Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, and native New Orleanian Truman Capote. I’m not surprised that Anne Rice stayed here as well. Since 1998, Hotel Monteleone is also a literary landmark, named by Friends of Library Association.
Hotel Monteleone is notably popular with other-earthly beings, according to paranormal investigators who spent the night. Apparently, the ghosts are friendly, many of them children who seem to like the fourteenth floor. Hotel Monteleone’s website shares more – “Generations of hotel guests and staff have regularly experienced haunted events at Hotel Monteleone. From doors that open with a will of their own and elevators that go to the wrong floor to shadows of children playing and curious couples that appear at the end of hallways, our hotel is known for being one of the premier haunted places in New Orleans.”
A New Orleans classic, Vieux Carré, was born at Hotel Monteleone’s Carousel Bar, a carousel-themed bar that rotates every fifteen minutes. This concoction was created by Walter Bergeron in the 1930s. The Carousel Bar recipe calls for 3/4 ounce each of Sazerac Rye Whiskey, Pierre Fernando 1840 Cognac, and Berto Red Vermouth, 1/2 ounce of Benedictine liqueur, and one or two dashes of Angostura and Peychaud’s bitters, with lemon peel. Combine in a glass of ice. Stir well. Enjoy.
The original bitters.
Algiers Point
Algiers Point lies across the Mississippi River and is reached by ferry. Here’s a suggested walking tour from the Algiers Historical Society.
Garden District
2627 Coliseum is Sandra Bullock’s New Orleans home since 2009 and appears in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Showing this house, built in 1876, was one of the walking tour’s selling points/highlights. The Garden District is the home of the wealthy and home to once-plantation owners. The houses here date back to before the Civil War. While the architecture is beautiful, from purely an architectural point of view, antebellum or pre-civil-war is also when slavery was legal in the country. It isn’t a time period to romanticize.
Audubon Park
My mom and I trekked out to Crescent City Farmers Market in the Uptown neighourhood. After browsing the stalls and sharing a pizza, we headed to Audubon Park, where there was a stone labyrinth I wanted to visit.
Degas House
The Degas House is both a museum and a Bed & Breakfast. Edgar Degas (1834–1917) is known for his Impressionist paintings and many know him for those of ballerinas. His mother, Célestine Musson De Gas, was from New Orleans and he stayed at his relatives’ home for about five months from October 1872. He came to visit his family, including his brothers René and Achille. During this short period, Degas produced a number of paintings, including A Cotton Office in New Orleans. Depicting his uncle’s brokerage firm, the painting shows a few relatives. Other paintings include portraits of Estelle Musson, René’s wife. Degas’ blindness was a point of empathy he had for Estelle, who had an eye disease.
Visiting New Orleans
The best time to visit New Orleans is considered to be between November to April. The weather is cooler and drier around this time. The hottest time is between June and September, when it can get close to 90°F and above 30°C. This is also when there is the most rainfall.
The cooler time in New Orleans is also when Carnival and Mardi Gras take place. While most people are familiar with Mardi Gras, it is the last day of a festive period that goes from January 6, known as Epiphany or “Twelfth Night” to the day before Ash Wednesday.
While New Orleans’ Mardi Gras may be the most famous, many other countries as well as other states in the US also celebrate this festive period which takes place before the forty days of fasting for Lent. Mardi Gras or “Fat Tuesday” is when traditionally all the fat in the house was used for cooking, ahead of the upcoming abstinence. On Mardi Gras, people celebrate and indulge, eating pancakes, doughnuts, and King Cakes. According to the Guinness World Records, the largest King Cake was baked in 2010 by Haydel’s Bakery. From the website-
The cake measured 805.58 m (2,643 ft 0.01 in) and completely circled the Superdome. The cake required 28 full-time employees for preparation, and 40 people to set everything up on-site. The cake, icing, and sprinkles took 3.5 days to prepare, and 9 hours to set up. A second cake also broke the previous record of 1,363.95 kg (3,007 lbs). The second cake, which also completely encircled the Superdome, weighed 1,845.46 kg (4,068 lb 8.99 oz) and measured 807.72 m (2,650 ft 0.03 in). Amanda Mochan adjudicated.
These days, you don’t have to wait for Mardi Gras or be in New Orleans to enjoy a King Cake. Order your King Cake.
The King Cake
The King Cake is a traditional food eaten during Carnival which begins on January 6. This is Epiphany, or Three Kings Day. It is a day to celebrate when the three wise men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, visited baby Jesus and then spread the word of his birth.
A French tradition, the King Cake was originally baked with brioche dough. In New Orleans, it is flavoured with cinnamon, glazed, and decorated with gold, green, and purple-coloured sugars. Gold for power, green for faith, and purple for justice. Along with these adaptations, the modern American King Cake comes in many new forms..
The King Cake still eaten in France, galette des rois, has remained more humble, a puff pastry filled with almond cream. Here’s a recipe to bake your own galette des rois.
For both, there is a tradition of a hidden treasure. In the US, it evolved from a bean to a plastic baby. In France, it’s a trinket. Whoever gets it is the king for the day, or king or queen of Mardi Gras balls, a tradition that began in the 19th century by the Twelfth Night Revelers.