The Big Easy - New Orleans Traveller

When describing the city in the 1877 writer Hearn Lafcadio said, “I speak with pain of her decay. New Orleans is fading, crumbling – slowly but certainly in the midst of the ruined paradise of Louisiana .”

Over 120 years on and it may be hard to find many people who do not share Lafcadio's fears. In 1994 the city had the un-enviable “honour” of being the murder capital of the US and crime was at an all time high. Those pointing the finger did not have to look too far as the years between 1993 and 1998 saw more than 50 officers from the New Orleans Police Department in the dock themselves. There are 37,000 uninhabited buildings in the city and schools with the lowest state-wide scores in the country. Despite the gloomy backdrop New Orleans will always draw people from across the country and the world who turn up year after year, in their thousands.

Historically New Orleans has thrived on defying the impossible. In the last three hundred years the city has overcome economic depressions, Indian wars, slave revolts, French and American revolutions and race riots not to mention great fires, floods and hurricanes.

New Orleans ' beginnings can be traced to 1682 when French-Canadian Robert Cavelir claimed the mouth of the Mississippi and its surrounding area for Louis XIV of France . Fierce fighting between France and its colonial enemies, Spain and Britain over the next 100 years was finally ended when France sold Louisiana to the United States in 1803, leading to it becoming the 18 th State of the Union on the 30 th of April 1812.

French ownership has certainly left its mark on the city. Nowhere more so than, Vieux Carre, or as it is more commonly known, the French quarter. Just a couple of blocks from the rumbling streetcars and the dozens of electronic gadgetry shops of Canal Street is the area most visitors associate with being New Orleans its self. The district described by Tennessee Williams as “the last frontier of Bohemia .” The French quarter is a tourist paradise, every vantage point providing a picture opportunity with wrought iron doorways and balconies sprayed with colourful hanging baskets. Though French influence is there for everyone to be seen though if you detect a Spanish flavour to the tightly crammed buildings you would not be wrong. A lot of the buildings in the French quarter were destroyed in the great fires of 1788 and 1794. The resulting re-building work was carried out by the Spanish who, at the time, had taken temporary ownership of the city from the French.

Music fills the air from just about every door and window in the French quarter, usually reflecting the cities cultural make-up: R&B, blues, jazz, country and gospel. Needless to say, music is not only a cultural part of New Orleans but it also provides much of the entertainment for the many visitors wandering aimlessly through the rabbit warren like streets of the French quarter. There are bars and restaurants on every street and each one offering a wide variety for the hungry visitor.

Due to the variety of both food and drink that is on offer taking advantage of the city's unique licensing laws is a must. Bars and restaurants are not required to close or stop serving alcohol at anytime of day or night, something which goes hand in hand with the nature of the city. It is also perfectly legal to purchase a drink in one bar and stroll out into the streets and savour other attractions on offer, providing the drink is poured into a plastic cup. A small sacrifice as spending hours on end in any one place seems a waste, however good it is.

Take advantage of the many unique cocktails on offer in the French Quarter. The Tropical Isle Bar on Bourbon Street claims to be one of only three bars in the city to sell The Hand Grenade, which it claims is the most powerful drink in New Orleans . The ingredients are a well kept secret but a potent mix of several different types of rum with a hint of melon is served to you in a souvenir grenade shaped cup. Whilst in The Tropical Isle take the opportunity of experiencing some genuine New Orleans blues. Live entertainment is on show seven nights a week, the highlight of which being “Big Al” Carson who could be described as a cross between Barry White and John Lee Hooker. Carson is a genuine crowd pleaser, even more so after the odd Hand Grenade or three.

All the components of New Orleans world famous cooking can also be found in the French quarter, Cajun, Italian, African, Spanish and Caribbean are all on offer. Locals have been known to say, “There are two times of the day in New Orleans : mealtime and in between.” Local cuisine can be described as good if not healthy, the city has been declared America 's most obese city in terms of potential heart attack victims, though try and find anyone who looks as though they care.

New Orleans may be able to party with the best of them but there are a surprising number of other attractions in the city.

The Garden district is well worth a visit. The area between St Charles Avenue and Magazine Street is where the more affluent middle classes settled distancing themselves from Downtown and the French Quarter. The over sized houses nestle in tree lined streets about 2 miles from the constant hustle and bustle of Bourbon Street in the French quarter. The houses date back to the early eighteen hundreds, the oldest originating from 1838, very much reflecting the renaissance era in which they were built with huge white columns and intricate ironwork. The best way to experience the Garden District is on foot. Many guided tours visit the area on a daily basis including a free one led by Rangers from the Jean Lafitte National Park office.

If the hangover from the previous nights visit to the French quarter has still not let up you won't find anywhere more tranquil, more intriguing and possibly more apt to visit

than one of the many cemeteries scattered throughout New Orleans . The “cities of the dead” as they were described by nineteenth-century poet Mark Twain could almost be model villages based on the garden district its self. On closer inspection these miniature buildings reveal their true identities, above ground graves. Below ground burials attempted by French colonials brought somewhat gruesome results due to the combination of particularly buoyant wooden coffins and New Orleans actually being below sea level, brick tombs were seen as the only option. Like many of New Orleans buildings some tombs are in a state of decay due to neglect. Some, though, are miniature architectural creations and well worth a visit for both architectural and historical reasons. Like the garden district, walking tours are available and advised.

New Orleans is now sufficiently drained to allow more conventional burials due to the many levies, which keep the raging Mississippi from engulfing the city below it. The levies, along with some of New Orleans' other features such as the towering downtown sky-line can be observed from one of the world famous steam boats which trundle up and down the great muddy waterway. The river cruises also pass some of New Orleans many battle-fields, with commentary detailing the complex nature of the areas political origins and also providing information on one of the worlds biggest river ports.

New Orleans can appear to outsiders as its own worst enemy. Although the city thrives on its tourism trade and its millions of visitors any attempts at wholesale New York style clean ups are simply not an option if the place is to retain its character and appeal.

It is said that New Orleans and its people have no desire to change, despite its problems. A financially strong city would be nice, a safe city would be bette but as far as New Orleans goes it has scraped through the last 300 years and has no intention of doing it any other way - the big easy way.