Travel Treasures of New Orleans, City in Louisiana, USA

 Introduction. 

We will explore and discover the Travel Treasures of New Orleans, a city with artistic history, stunning architecture and a rich historic, cultural and literary heritage. This is a destination worth planning for and visiting. Trip.com provides a one-stop travel booking service throughout their website and mobile app. for accommodations and flights. For Travel Insurance, Ekta provides medical, lost luggage, airport delays and gadgets cover for everyone between the ages of 3 to 85 years. Last and not least, Airalo.com, the world's first eSim store, solves the pain of high roaming charges by giving travel access to digital SIM cards. 

New Orleans historical background. 

In April 1682, after journey lasting two and a half months, Rene- Robert Cavelier de La Salle and his men reached the Mississippi Delta. Cavalier de La Salle set foot on the land and named it Louisiana in honour of Louis the 14th. Nestled on the river there is a legendary city where the influence of France is clear, New Orleans. In 1718, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded New Orleans. The city was baptized as such in honour of the regent, Duke Philippe d’Orleans. Its location was strategic, allowing the settlers to watch over the comings and goings of the boats. With keys that stretch for 20 kilometers, it's one of the principal ports of the United States.  

The French Quarter and Napoleon Bonaparte’s House. 

A stone’s throw away from the Mississippi, we find the Vieux Carre, or the French Quarter, New Orleans Historic District. The French engineer Adrien de Pauger, was entrusted with planning the city. Even though the majority of houses here have been rebuilt by the Spanish it is still known as the French Quarter. The memory of the role played by the French in the birth of the city many years ago is still present here. The distinctive atmosphere reigns and many of this historic district streets. In the French Quarter of New Orleans, you can find a surprising building, Napoleon Bonaparte's House, which is today a bar entirely dedicated to the French Emperor. The story goes that the mayor at the time, Nicholas Girod, had attempted to free Napoleon from his exile in Santa Helena, in order to move him here into this house. 

 These people were, according to the legend, about to set sail when they learned that Napoleon had died. So, it was a shame. But it was still a success for the mayor who had offered his house to Napoleon because Napoleon was very popular amongst the people of New Orleans. I think it was a well thought out gesture. Just like Nicholas Girod, many French settlers came to try their luck in the new world throughout the 18th century. Those who succeeded built residences like this one, named Madame John's Legacy. It is one of the rare examples of French colonial style in the French Quarter. 

The French settlers who came to New Orleans were primarily servicemen and adventurous, but also convicts and prostitutes, along with counterfeiters that came to be known as smugglers. Many counterfeiters in France were sent here as a punishment. At the beginning, obviously it was all just propaganda. For example, there were paintings and engravings that depicted New Orleans amongst the mountains with fresh water and so on. The reality was heat, mosquitoes, terrible illnesses and a lack of many things. A lack of basic necessities.  

The Saint Louis Cathedral 

In the heart of the French Quarter stands the Saint Louis Cathedral. Saint Louis is the oldest cathedral in the United States. It was built in the 18th century, at the same time that the French Quarter was born. The building is not the original. It has been rebuilt several times after different fires. Today, it houses a large collection of flags that provide a summary of Louisiana's history. They represent all of the countries that have dominated this region, from France to the United States, whilst passing through Great Britain and Spain. We can see amongst them a French flag preserved as a relic and bearing the fleur-de-lis, which dates from 1682, the same year that Cavalier de La Salle took possession of Louisiana. The Saint Louis who lends his name to the cathedral is Louis, the 14th King of France. He’s depicted in almost every part of the building, on the stained-glass windows, its’ statues and even above the altar in this mural painting.  

The Saint Augustine Church. 

A few streets away from the Saint Louis Cathedral in the Treme district, there is a unique church, the Saint Augustine Church. Today it celebrates its 170th anniversary. This church was built in 1842 by the Free People of Color. The free people of color were black and mixed-race people who had been freed from slavery for several generations. They formed a real aristocracy. The majority of them were Catholics, and some of them fought so that the slaves could have access to this Church, a first in the history of the United States. Well at the time you know in New Orleans, they had the highest population of free people in the United States. So, it was kind of an organic thing for people to decide who owned property, to decide to find a place of worship. There weren't many places of worship at the time. There was Saint Louis Cathedral and there was the Ursuline Sisters Chapel and then the Irish were founding St. Patrick's across town, but there was no home for them to feel welcome and to feel as though they were part of the liturgy and worship, and so they decided to found their own.  

Free people of color have played an important part in the cultural development of the city. The majority of artists that appeared on the stage of New Orleans French Opera were free people of color. In the 19th century, the biggest operas that came from France played here well before arriving in New York. So, opera was originally grown in Louisiana, as it was the first city of opera in North America. But the reason Opera and the culture of balls and all of that came to Louisiana, especially New Orleans, was because the place was inhospitable. So, they thought “We have to bring in something that people could get attached to and would fall in love with and want to be here and feel special about being here”.  The French tradition was that slaves did not work on Sunday. There was a time for worship and going to mass and that sort of thing. However, if they had particular skills, they could hire themselves out on a Sunday and they made their own money that they used to buy their freedom and also bought a ticket to the opera. And so, it saved New Orleans because people were about ready to leave.  

In1865, the end of the American Civil War marked the abolition of slavery. And then came segregation. The free people of colour lost some of their privileges, including that of taking part in the operas. It's even said that a certain Louis Armstrong, as a child, tried every which way he could to get inside and listen to this music that fascinated him so much. 

The Brass Bands and Louis Armstrong Park. 

 In New Orleans every October, the brass band from the Club of the Black Men of Labour celebrates the anniversary of its creation. These brass bands always take place on a Sunday. At the time, it was the only day of rest for the slaves. They would meet here at Congo Square, now Louis Armstrong Park, to sing and to dance to the sound of tambourines. This mythical place of African American culture is considered to be the cradle of jazz. The main character here in New Orleans is this man, Louis Armstrong. It was here that he launched his career, and it was in the Storyville district full of clubs that he became a trumpeter. At the time, these weren't really jazz clubs, but more like brothels. Today music is everywhere in New Orleans and forms a part of this world-renowned identity. The street where all the jazz clubs are situated is called Frenchman Street. 

Antoine’s Restaurant. 

 Antoine’s Restaurant is one of the oldest restaurants in the United States. It's been run by the same family for more than 170 years. It said that the city's most popular cocktail was invented at the beginning of the 19th century in the back shop of a Creole pharmacist who lived in the French Quarter. Antoine’s Restaurant has made it its speciality. Most of the color and flavor the drink has comes from this product, the aromatic bitters of Antoine Peychaud. Bitters were, you might say, that Coca-Cola of the 19th century. He served his drink in a special way. He had the use of a double handled piece of French crockery, very small, called coquetier. The coquetier was the way in which he served the drink. However, when the Americans heard the French creoles order the drink, they did not hear the coquetier. They heard cocktail and so that is how it came into use in the English language. The word itself came from the drink. 

The Tramway and the Streetcar. 

 This party atmosphere of New Orleans attracted many writers during the first half of the 19th century. They settled in the French Quarter. The tramway line that was made famous in 1947. Now we are in a Streetcar, a tramway like the one that inspired Tennessee Williams in his work. A Streetcar Named Desire. For him, it was more of a symbol. He's not talking about the streetcar itself. It's the symbol of the city of New Orleans and of everything that the city meant to him. The writers were seduced by the exoticism and the unique culture of this American city. This society was Catholic, and the Catholics were much more tolerant than the Baptists. So, Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner came here from the state of Mississippi, and they saw people dancing in the streets, having fun and drinking without being cruel or nasty. They weren’t just lower-class people, and that fascinated and liberated them. 

 There are shops that illustrate the link maintained by the city with its French origins. An address that is known by only a few. Practically the temple of French literature lost in this little corner of America.  In 1730-1731, the first work that really spoke about Louisiana in literary terms was Manon Lescaut, known for the opera. And now historians say,” Well, it's not important, it's not true. It's fiction”. But in fact, the subject of a woman who is seized as a prostitute and sent to the colonies, That's true. It happened! After a little research, you can find that Mr. Girod discovered that at the time women were immigrated to Louisiana and in 1917 to 1920, amongst the names of women forcibly sent to the house was Maryann Lescaut. So, there is some truth behind the novel. 

The Cabildo. 

 France has a colossal cultural heritage in Louisiana. Even though it only had possession of the region for 83 years. In 1803, France finally sold Louisiana to the United States. In December 1803, the formal handover ceremonies took place in this building, The Cabildo, which has become one of the city's main museums. The French flag can be seen on this painting, which flew above New Orleans until this date when it was replaced by the Star-Spangled Banner. After this ceremony, a grand dinner took place here, to celebrate the eternal glory of Louisiana.  

The Natchez and the Calliope. 

This boat, the Natchez, is one of the last paddle steamboats to navigate along the Mississippi. Its name, Natchez, refers to an American Indian tribe that revolted against the French settlers in the 18th century. Debbie Fagnano has been playing this distinctive instrument for 24 years, the Calliope. Its sound is part of the musical scene of New Orleans. This machine was invented as a steam organ in 1856 and it was given the name Calliope, which is a great news of voice or of song, and it's become sort of like the voice of the river. After the hurricane, the whole city was devastated when the boat came back downriver. Debbie got on the boat, and played the Calliope for about an hour, coming back downriver.  When people heard the Calliope and they knew that we were back, it gave them a sense that things were going to be okay. Things were going to be fine. The city was going to come back just because of this little instrument.  

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Author 

Evans Webbo. 

Travel Enthusiast.