French Quarter of New Orleans

In the French Quarter is historic Jackson Square, pictured above.  Pictured above is a common scene in the square of musicians, palm readers, artists and a variety of other street performers.

The street performer above startle me when, after I dropped a dollar in his bucket, he/she suddenly moved and gave me a deep curtsy!  In the background is General Andrew Jackson on his horse.

One cannot visit the square without stepping into the Basilica Of St.Louis of France, the oldest Catholic Cathedral in the United States.  The first permanent church was built in 1727, but was destroyed in 1788.  The present one was completed in 1851.  The statues, stained glass and frescoes  on the ceiling are all quite beautiful.  On the right side are flags which represent the countries which New Orleans has been under from its founding to the present.

The French Quarter is about some 90 blocks, we only covered a small portion of it.  From the square we spent some time in the French Market where we just had to stop at Cafe du Monde for beignets.  The market has gift shops, bazaars, clothing stores and a praline cookery.   We also walked on the waterfront of the Mississippi River and visited Washington Artillery.

Walking back to our car we happened to see the building where Faulkner in 1925 wrote his first novel, "Soldier's Pay".  According to the historical marker, the building was constructed in 1840 on a site formerly occupied by the yard and buildings of a French colonial prison.  It is now a bookstore, otherwise we never would have given the building a second glance!

We would have missed the Blue Dog in a store front window had not Kat drawn our attention to him.  He was created by the Louisiana artist George Rodrigue.  After Katrina devastated the city the artist painted the dog half submerged in water with a red cross on his chest.  Using the dog and a motto "we will rise again" he created an initiative called Blue Dog Relief.