New Orleans, The City that Never Sleeps
The Mystic of the French Quarter

New Orleans is Louisiana’s largest city and a major United States port. It is located on the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana. New Orleans was catastrophically impacted by the failure of the Federal levee system during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It has since been almost completely rebuilt but there is always the threat of new storms and many of the residents that left after Katrina have not returned.

Tourism is the major industry in New Orleans. It is a unique city, and there is no other quite like it anywhere in the world. A 2009 Travel & Leisure poll of “America’s Favorite Cities” ranked New Orleans first in ten categories. The French Quarter, the original old city that attracts the majority of tourists is a meca of Creole architecture, food, music and art. There is literally something to entertain everyone at any hour of the day or night.

The French Quarter, which dates from the French and Spanish eras, contains many popular hotels, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, parks and a distinctive architecture which reflects the city’s historical and multicultural heritage. Each year the Quarter is host to the famous Mardi Gras which has perhaps earned it the dubious honor of being the place to go for a “wild weekend”. There are also almost constant Jazz festivals, the largest of which is the Jazz and Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest). New Orleans is one of the top ten most visited cities in the United States.

No matter what interests you or where you would like to go in the city, there are no transportation problems in New Orleans. In the French Quarter, people prefer to walk. The sidewalks, often in need of repair, are always full of people gawking, shopping, drinking or just getting exercise. There are three active streetcar lines. The St. Charles is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in America and each car is a historic landmark and a tourist attraction in its own right. The Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire, featured the streetcar line to Desire Street. The Riverfront line runs parallel to the river from Esplanade Street through the French Quarter. The Canal Street Line reaches many areas beyond the quarter. There are also a number of busses and of course, the romantic and historic horse-drawn carriages will take you anywhere in the Quarter.

New Orleans is world-famous for its food. Its distinctive flavors have developed from an amalgamation of the local Creole and New Orleans French cuisine. Local ingredients, French, Spanish, Italian, African, Native American, Cajun and a hint of Cuban combine to produce a truly unique and easily recognizable Louisiana flavor. Specialties include beignets which are square-shaped fried pastries covered with powdered sugar. Café du Monde specializes in these “French do-nuts”. Po’boy and Italian Muffuletta sandwiches, gulf oysters on the half-shell, boiled crawfish, etouffee, jambalaya, gumbo and other Creole dishes can be found at a number of local restaurants for reasonable prices.

The music of New Orleans has always been a significant part of its attraction. Its unique blending of European instruments with African rhythms gave birth to the indigenous music known as jazz. At one time New Orleans was the only North American city to allow slaves to gather in public and play their native music. One result was the rise of the popular brass bands. Still used today in parades and as “funeral music” the bands attract a large number of tourists and provide employment for a number of New Orleans residents. Music can be heard far into the night on such streets as the famous Bourbon Street.

Notable tourist attractions in the French Quarter include Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, the French Market, Preservation Hall and the steamboat, Natchez which takes visitors on tours twice daily. There are ghost tours, swamp tours, plantation tours, cemetery tours, walking tours and comprehensive city tours. There is literally, no end of things to entertain the visitor in New Orleans.

For more information: www.neworleansinfo.com.