New Orleans: French Quarter Walking Tour

Highlights

• Watch how the famous Beignet pastries get made at Cafe du Monde
• Learn how New Orleans has protected itself from the threat of hurricanes and learn about the deadly storm Katrina
• Take a look at the house on Chartres Street where a careless Spaniard started the Great Fire of 1788
• Visit the former St. Louis Hotel and Exchange, where thousands of Africans were sold into slavery
• Get a feel for the big role that banjo player Danny Barker played in preserving traditional jazz

Description

This 2-hour long walk through the historic French Quarter starts outside 529 St. Ann Street, former site of the Louisiana Welcome Center in the lower Pontalba Rowhouse adjacent to Jackson Square (left of square as you face river). Historically used as a parade ground, Jackson Square is now full of musicians, tarot card readers, and street performers.

You will walk downriver along the old French Market to the Ursuline Convent. This is the oldest building in the Mississippi Delta from Colonial times and housed some very adventurous and courageous nuns who came here in the early 1700s. You will pass the house of famous jazz player, Danny Barker who is legendary among the city's jazz musicians. You will then come to one of the many former macaroni factories of the lower French Quarter, proof of the major role that Sicilian immigrants played in the city's history.

You will come across the house of Vincente Nunez, a Spaniard, whose carelessness caused a fire that destroyed 80% of the city in 1788. You will then see several of the city's former slave markets and learn about Jean Francois Merieult, an influential and powerful Creole businessman and slave trader. After a stop at Preservation Hall, the city's holy grail of traditional jazz, the tour ends in Jackson Square with a story about the famous Madame de Pontalba, a French baroness and businesswoman with an eye for beautiful architecture.