Views Around New Orleans|French Quarter

[NCB]

Well I headed into New Orleans today for the French Quarter Festival, and took quite a few pictures in and around the city. I'll have 3 parts to my New Orleans pictures, part 1 will be this thread, the French Quarter, part 2 will be the Riverfront and the festivities at the FQF, and part 3 will be downtown.

Anyway, the French Quarter Fest was started in 1984 by then mayor Ernest Morial as a gesture of thanks towards the residents of the Quarter after there had been months of construction, mostly involving tearing up the roads to install cables and other things to prepare for the 1984 Worlds Fair in New Orleans, and since then it has grown to become a massive festival, and Louisiana's largest free music festival. It takes place in parts of the Quarter, all along the Riverfront, and ventures a bit into downtown. Today was a great day for the city, just because everyone at the Fest had smiles on their faces, everyone was happy, tourist's were everywhere(something New Orleans has been lacking since Katrina) and for many, including me, it was easy to forget about Katrina while listening to all of the great free music and fantastic food that New Orleans is known for.

Anyway, enough rambling, here are some of my pictures from the historic French Quarter. Enjoy!

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I tried to get into the city early to avoid some of the crowds while taking some picutres, but the city, especially parts of the Quarter, was packed long before the FQF even began. Which was great to see, as parts of the city have been much more quiet since Katrina.

This, is where I grew up as a kid, Orleans Street.

I just had too ...

A few more photos from Jackson Square to come...

[NCB]

Looking Up Orleans Street to the back of the Saint Louis Cathedral.

The Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Artist's with their paintings set up and for sale along the fences of Saint Anthony's Garden, behind the Saint Louis Cathedral

Looking over the front of Jackson Square

The Cabildo

The Presbytere, now the Louisiana State Museum

Looking up the face of the Saint Louis Cathedral

Skyline through the trees

Jackson Square and the Saint Louis Cathedral, filled with people

And that's finally it! I'm sorry about the thread being so long, but photos from New Orleans don't come around on UP very often.

[TBurban]

Those pictures are amazing NCB That part of New Orleans looks fantastic! Great pics man

[ZachariahDaMan]

Awesome pictures, Nate. I can't wait to see the rest.

[Mith242]

Beautiful pics Nate. I don't think I ever get tired of seeing pics from there. Looks like you really grew up right in the middle of it didn't you.

[DruidCity]

Wow, it looks in a lot better shape than I expected.

I last visited New Orleans about this time last year.

It's great to see the Quarter doing such good business again.

One factoid I learned last week is that a couple of my favorite buildings on the University

of Alabama campus were designed by architect James Freret of New Orleans in the late 1800s.

New Orleans had (and hopefully will continue for many generations to come) a great

influence on cities and towns all over the LA-MS-AL region and beyond.

[dimebag1980]

Awesome pictures, Nate... just awesome.

DruidCity - you're right. And New Orleans is still having an influence on many cities in this area. My wife is heavily involved with a new TND being built in Shreveport in which the homes were designed by architects in New Orleans, so that the neighborhood will remind residents of New Orleans. This just shows that New Orleans still has a big influence in this region.

I've said it many times before and I'll say it again... long live the Big Easy... and damn Nate for having been so lucky as to grow up in the French Quarter.

[NCB]

Thanks, everyone!

Once I saw how many people were already in the Quarter in the morning, I decided to try to make my pictures focus on both some of the history and architecture found in the FQ and all of the activity going on, street activity, music, etc. I tried to come up with an even mix of both, and some of those pictures aren't my best, but I just wanted to mix it up a bit.

DruidCity, if you were to come to the French Quarter right now, you would honestly not be able to see that Katrina had ever come through. Nearly all of the businesses are open, all of the residents are back, the activity is still high as is the nightlife, etc. The same could be said for downtown, other than some cosmetic damage still visible on some of the skyscrapers and some businesses still closed, it looks nearly completely as it did pre-Katrina. No debris, no trash, no more cleanup crews, traffic is back and very bad, and activity is picking up every day.

and damn Nate for having been so lucky as to grow up in the French Quarter.

Haha, actually, when I was born my parents were planning on moving out to the suburbs, but didn't want to leave the Quarter. So you can thank them and their decision making for all of that.

[Lone Ranger]

And that's finally it! I'm sorry about the thread being so long, but photos from New Orleans don't come around on UP very often.

Our loss, it seems.

[mandrws1]

Great pics! It really is great to see New Orleans somewhat alive again!