In true Louisiana style these are dripping with Spanish moss and afford lots of shade for jogging, cycling and picnics. The park was landscape in the 1850s and holds the world’s largest collection of mature oaks, with some specimens more than 600 years old. The sixth-largest urban park in America is on swampland that was drained by French colonists in the early 19th century.Īt the time this space was known as “Dueling Oaks”, where men would come to settle disputes away from the city. City Park Source: AAlex81 / shutterstock City Park, New Orleans If there’s a TV show or movie set in New Orleans, you can bet that Jackson Square will make an appearance.Īt the east corner is the 24-hour Café du Monde, a NOLA mainstay.Ħ. In grand townhouses on the square’s margins are restaurants, galleries and shops, while the square is swarmed by artists selling their wares and producing portraits in a few minutes flat. Louis Cathedral and the former courthouse, the Presbytère. Jackson Square is set just in from the Mississippi riverbank and in a solemn row on the western frontage stand the Cabildo (former city hall), St. At the very centre of formal gardens is the equestrian statue for Jackson by sculptor Clark Mills and unveiled in 1856. Once a military parade ground at the very centre of the city Jackson Square was first laid out in 1720s in the style of Place des Vosges in Paris.Īfter the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 the plaza was renamed in honour of the victorious General Andrew Jackson who would become the seventh president of the United States between 18. Jackson Square Source: Fotoluminate LLC / shutterstock Jackson Square, New Orleans The internationally renowned Commander’s Palace (1403 Washington Ave) is a Creole restaurant dating back to 1893 and housed in a fine turreted building with blue and white awnings.ģ. Go on foot to gawp at the antebellum mansions, like the Goldsmith-Godchaux House, at 1122 Jackson Ave, The Manse at 2328 Coliseum Street, Colonel Short’s Villa at 1448 Fourth Street and the Brevard-Rice House at 1239 First Street. New Orleans at its most refined, the Garden District was developed for rich Americans who didn’t want to live in the French Quarter with the Creoles.įrom the mid-1830s they built themselves theatrical Italianate and Greek Revival mansions, often painted bright white and sporting two tiers of galleries.īougainvillea creeps up many of the facades, while the front gardens are planted with jasmine, banana trees and magnolia, and the sidewalks are in the shade of venerable southern live oaks. Garden District Source: Kristi Blokhin / shutterstock New Orleans Garden District There’s fabulous live music outside, on Royal Street’s daytime pedestrian zone and on the corner of Chartres and Frenchmen Street in the evening, and you never know when a Second Line parade will show up.ĭecatur Street by the levee and French Market is for yet more jazz, people-watching and souvenir shopping, while you may be out late enough to see a new day dawn on the Mississippi riverfront over the tracks.Īvailable tour: French Quarter: Food History & Tasting TourĢ. You won’t even need to search for entertainment it will find you in the French Quarter. Rakish, bohemian and bouncy, the French Quarter (Vieux Carré) is the grand dame, and springs to mind when many people think New Orleans.Īll the hallmarks are here, like the carnage of Bourbon Street, Creole cottages, wrought-iron balconies, laid-back cafes, pastel facades, gaslights, jazz clubs, flowery courtyards, to-go cups, antique stores and restaurants that have been around for a century or more. French Quarter Source: f11photo / shutterstock French Quarter, New Orleans Let’s explore the best things to do in New Orleans, Louisiana: 1. The joie de vivre is impossible to resist and shines through in sublime food like jambalaya, gumbo, beignets, po’ boys and crawfish boils.Ī lot of the city is below the waterline and New Orleans’ darkest hour was broadcast to the world during Hurricane Katrina, but this irrepressible, charmingly dissolute city was soon on its feet once more. New Orleans is that rare place where you can order a cocktail to-go, and turn a corner and be swept along in a street parade. Out of the French Quarter vintage streetcars rattle past rows of southern live oaks that have been growing for hundreds of years. It’s a city of Creole cottages, palatial townhouses, elegant iron balconies and shaded courtyards. The cradle of jazz music, New Orleans is a little out of step with the United States when it comes to dining, architecture and just day-to-day living.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |