CEMETERY/VOODOO WALKING HISTORY TOUR

IT WAS ALREADY FRIDAY....WOW!  OUR TIME HERE WAS COMING TO AN END. WE WERE LEAVING MONDAY. THIS WOULD BE OUR LAST DAY AT THE FRENCH QUARTERS. WE WERE GOING ON THE CEMETERY/VOODOO HISTORY WALKING TOUR.

 THIS IS A  TOUR OF THE MORTUARY CHURCH, LATER CALLED  OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CHURCH, ST. LOUIS CEMETERY #1.  MARIE LAVEAU'S TOMB,AND CONGO SQUARE. THERE WERE QUITE A FEW PEOPLE  ON THIS TOUR. I STAYED TOWARD THE FRONT SO I  COULD HEAR WHAT THE GUIDE WAS SAYING.

WE WOULD STOP ALONG THE WAY AND HE WOULD TELL US TIDBITS OF THE CITY'S HISTORY.  

THE FIRST STOP WOULD BE THE  CHURCH. 

 AT LEAST 41,000 PEOPLE DIED FROM YELLOW FEVER. IT TOOK  A LONG TIME FOR THEM TO FIGURE OUT THAT IT WAS CAUSED BY MOSQUITOS.

AND THEN ON TO THE CEMETARY........LOCATED DIRECTLY BEHIND THE CHURCH.

THE GUIDE EXPLAINED THAT  NEW ORLEANS IS BELOW SEA LEVEL, ONE REASON FOR THE ABOVE GROUND BURIALS. 

 THIS ONE IS A FAMILY STYLE TOMB. NOTICE ALL THE NAMES ON THE FRONT. IT HAS TWO SHELVES  WITH A CHAMBER BELOW CALLED THE  CAVEAU.THE  BODY IS PLACED  IN A WOODEN BOX, ON ONE OF THE SHELVES. IN  THE NEW ORLEANS HEAT,  THE TOMB WILL REACH 300 OR SO DEGREES  AROUND THE CLOCK.  IF NEEDED, IT CAN BE  OPENED  AFTER A YEAR AND A DAY. THE REMAINDER OF THE FIRST BODY IS SCRAPED AND FALLS DOWN IN THE CAVEAU, WHERE THE BONES MINGLE. 

SOME OF THE TOMBS ARE  VERY LARGE AND ORNATE, AND SADLY MOST HAVE BEEN VANDALIZED.

NICHOLAS CAGE HAS A TOMB HERE......A PYRAMID!!

IT SAYS OMNIA AB UNO, WHICH MEANS EVERYTHING FROM ONE.

WE HAD TO WAIT TO SEE THE VOODOO QUEEN, MARIE 

LAVEAU'S TOMB.SHE WAS A LOUISIANA CREOLE  PRACTIONER OF VOODOO.  HERS' IS ONE OF THE MORE POPULAR TOMBS.

WALKING THROUGH THE TOMBS, I NOTICED THE  INSCRIPTION ON THIS TOMB.

OUR LAST STOP WAS  CONGO SQUARE .  CONGO SQUARE IS IN THE SOUTHERN CORNER OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG PARK.

CONGO SQUARE, IS AN OPEN SPACE WHERE SLAVES AND FREE BLACKS GATHERED THROUGHOUT THE 19TH CENTURY FOR MEETINGS, OPEN MARKETS AND THE AFRICAN DANCE AND DRUMMING CELEBRATIONS THAT PLAYED A SUBSTANTIAL ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF JAZZ.

AND THAT WAS THE END OF THE TOUR.......WE STARTED WALKING BACK TO THE TRUCK ......I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE CUTEST  HOUSE!!

AND MUSICIANS GETTING SET UP TO PLAY FOR THE DAY.

WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WE WERE HUNGRY FOR , SO WE HEADED  HOME  FOR  LEFTOVERS. WE WERE SO GLAD WE HAD DONE THE TWO WALKING TOURS....SO MUCH HISTORY!! IT STARTED RAINING DURING THE NIGHT AND RAINED UNTIL ABOUT NOON ON SATURDAY. FINALLY ON  SUNDAY IT STARTED CLEARING UP. WE GOT THE TRUCK AND RV WASHED AND READY TO GO TO ALABAMA!

FRENCH QUARTER WALKING HISTORY TOUR

WE WERE GRATEFUL IT WASN'T POURING DOWN RAIN WHEN WE GOT UP THE NEXT MORNING, BUT IT LOOKED LIKE IT COULD START ANY MINUTE. WE WERE GOING ON THE   WALKING TOUR THIS MORNING AT 10:30, WE BROUGHT   OUR UMBRELLA   "JUST IN CASE. "  WE WERE TO MEET AT THE  BOURBON STREET CAFE BEIGNET. WE GOT THERE IN PLENTY OF TIME!

WE WERE TO MEET AT THE MUSICIAN STATUES.

WE MET GWEN, OUR TOUR GUIDE,  A VERY NICE LADY, AND  SAID SOMETHING TO HER ABOUT THE RAIN......SHE SAYS, "THIS IS NAWLINS, A CATHOLIC CITY, THIS ISN'T RAIN, IT'S HOLY WATER!!"  THERE WERE ONLY THREE OTHERS ON THE TOUR.

WE LEARNED A LOT ABOUT THE HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BUILDINGS. GWEN EXPLAINED THAT THESE HOMES WERE BUILT BY THE CREOLES MOSTLY. THE CREOLES WERE HERE 100 YEARS BEFORE ANYONE ELSE CAME TO NEW ORLEANS. GWEN IS A PROUD  FOURTH GENERATION CREOLE WOMAN.  THE WINDOWS AND DOORS OF THESE HOMES WERE DESIGNED  TO  CATCH A BREEZE IN THE HOT SUMMER MONTHS.

 NEW ORLEANS WAS  FOUNDED BY  FRANCE, THEN RULED BY SPAIN AND THEN BACK TO FRANCE. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE  SOLD  THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY TO THE UNITED STATES FOR $15 MILLION DOLLARS, CALLED THE BEST REAL ESTATE DEAL IN HISTORY, THAT'S ABOUT FOUR CENTS AN ACRE. IT DOUBLED THE SIZE OF THE UNITED STATES. 

THE CREOLES THOUGHT US AMERICANS WERE TOO FLASHY WITH  OUR FANCY HOUSES AND WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH  US!

THE TOUR ENDED AT JACKSON SQUARE. THE BEAUTIFUL CHURCH IS THE ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL.

AFTER WALKING FOR TWO HOURS, WE WERE TIRED AND STARVING!! WE WEREN'T SURE WHAT WE WERE HUNGRY FOR, SO WE JUST WALKED AND READ THE MENUS......THIS LITTLE RESTAURANT WAS SERVING CRAB AND CORN CHOWDER.....YUM!! THAT'S WHAT I WANTED!!

IT WAS DELICIOUS!! A CUTE LITTLE FRENCH QUARTER CAFE.

AND THEN A QUICK STOP AT CAFE DU MONDE FOR BEIGNETS TO GO!!

WE WERE COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS....NO RAIN SO FAR TODAY.  IT DID RAIN THAT EVENING AND SOME DURING THE NIGHT.

NEW ORLEANS

WE HAVE RESERVATIONS AT PONCHARTRAIN  LANDING RV PARK FOR A WEEK, ANOTHER  PASSPORT AMERICA PARK.

WHEN I MADE THE RESERVATIONS THERE WERE NO PULL THRU SITES AVAILABLE, BUT THEY SAID IT WOULD BE NO TROUBLE BACKING IN TO THEIR SITES. TWO VERY NICE MEN HELPED US, IT DIDN'T TAKE TOO LONG.

WE WERE NOT IMPRESSED WITH THE RV PARK, IT HAD BEEN RAINING HERE TOO, NO GRASS, JUST MUD AND WATER.  IT WAS ONLY 15 MINUTES FROM FRENCH QUARTERS THOUGH AND THEY HAD A SHUTTLE TO FRENCH QUARTERS. IT STORMED ALL THE NEXT DAY, WE DIDN'T WANT TO BE OUT IN IT, SO WE STAYED IN THE RV PARK. WE DID WALK DOWN TO THE OFFICE AND FOUND OUT WE WERE IN THE INDUSTRIAL CANAL. THE RV PARK  IS  NEW SINCE HURRICANE KATRINA. THIS IS WHERE SOME OF THE WORST FLOODING OCCURRED.

  

THESE COLORFUL HOUSEBOATS LOOKED LIKE FUN!!

WE DECIDED THE SHUTTLE TO FRENCH QUARTERS WAS NOT GOING TO WORK FOR US, IT WOULD BE TOO LONG TO LEAVE MAGGIE AND MARLEE. SO, THE NEXT MORNING WE LEFT EARLY,  WE THOUGHT,  TO GO ON A WALKING TOUR.  IT WAS PRETTY  FOGGY THAT EARLY IN THE MORNING.

EVERYONE TOLD US THE STREETS ON THE FRENCH QUARTER WERE VERY NARROW, TOO NARROW TO TAKE THE DUALLY, BUT WE PROVED THAT THEORY WRONG!

THE ONLY THING THAT SAVED US WAS THAT IT WAS PRETTY EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND THERE WASN'T TOO MUCH TRAFFIC.

 BY THE TIME WE GOT PARKED, IT WAS TOO LATE TO GO ON THE TOUR, BUT WE  HAD OUR PLAN FOR THE NEXT MORNING.   WE FOUND A PARKING LOT CENTRALLY LOCATED AND DECIDED TO GO TO THE FRENCH MARKET.

FRENCH MARKET IS AN OPEN AIR FLEA MARKET WITH LOTS OF VENDORS!

AND  OPEN AIR RESTAURANTS!!

AND BEAUTIFUL FOUNTAINS AND SMALL PARKS.

AFTER WE WALKED THROUGH THE MARKET, WE NEEDED A REST. FRENCH MARKET IS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. WE FOUND A BENCH AND JUST SAT AND WATCHED THE SHIPS AND THE PEOPLE.

WE WERE HUNGRY AND DECIDED TO GO TO THE BEIGNET CAFE, JUST A SHORT WALK.

LOVED THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BUILDINGS!

WE  REACHED THE BEIGNET CAFE.......SO COOL!!

AFTER ORDERING OUR LUNCH, WE DECIDED TO SIT OUTSIDE IN THE PATIO AREA,  WITH  THE  CAT!

WE HAD A DELICIOUS LUNCH!!

AND BEIGNETS FOR DESSERT!! YUM!

MY FIRST EVER!! PRONOUNCED BAN-YEA  AND DESCRIBED AS A SQUARE DOUGHNUT OF FRENCH BREAD DOUGH WITH NO HOLE IN THE MIDDLE , DEEP FRIED AND DUSTED WITH POWDERED SUGAR. YUMMY....YUMMY....DELICIOUS!!
DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO HEAD HOME........STORM WARNINGS OUT, FLOOD WATCHES,  TORNADO WARNING....ALL FOR OUR LOCATION.  WE HADN'T BEEN HOME LONG AND THE SKIES DARKENED, IT THUNDERED AND POURED DOWN RAIN, THANK GOD NO TORNADO!! MAGGIE WAS SO SCARED.....I TOOK HER TO BED WITH ME AND COVERED HER UP. THERE WAS BAD WEATHER ALL AROUND US, BUT WE WERE OK. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET WE HAD THAT EVENING!

WATER STANDING EVERYWHERE AND MORE RAIN PREDICTED FOR TOMORROW!!