Other sights in New Orleans
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SAFEHOUSE
New Orleans has long served as a muse for artists, boasting a funky energy that powers exceptional creativity. The city is best known for its jazzy contribution to American music, but it also has a strong visual arts scene. After Hurricane Katrina, the scene blossomed anew as photographers, sculptors, painters and performance artists turned to the destruction of the Storm for both subject and canvas. Their work helped the city channel its rage, sadness and hopefulness, capturing the evolution of the city's spirit while providing powerful social commentary on the flaws exposed by the Storm. Perhaps the most creative use of the wrecked city as canvas can be found in St Roch…
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French Market
Within the shopping arcades of forgettable souvenirs, mediocre art and overrated food, it’s easy to forget that for centuries this was the great bazaar and pulsing commercial heart of much of New Orleans. Today the French Market is a bit sanitized, a safari through a tourist jungle of curios, flea markets and harmless, shiny tat that all equals great family-friendly fun. Occasionally you’ll spot some genuinely fascinating and/or unique arts and craftwork. The Spanish built the first meat-and-produce market here in 1791, which was destroyed by hurricane and fire. In 1813 the replacement Halle des Boucheries (Meat Market), at 900 Decatur St, was designed, and during the 193…
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Chua Bo de Temple
To see where New Orleans Vietnamese work and play, you need to drive a little ways out of the city proper. Although many Vietnamese refugees were Catholic, Vietnamese religion has always been pretty syncretic, and there were many Buddhists among the boat people. In New Orleans East, the Trung Tam Phat Giao Van Hanh temple suffered severe damage during the storm but was rapidly rebuilt by its congregation; further south, the Chua Bo De temple is about 25 minutes outside of the city near English Turn golf course. Both temples are typically Vietnamese Buddhist structures, filled with Chinese-style bodhisattvas (Buddhist saints), photos of and offerings to dead ancestors, and…
reviewed
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Trung Tam Phat Giao Van Hanh Temple
To see where New Orleans Vietnamese work and play, you need to drive a little ways out of the city proper. Although many Vietnamese refugees were Catholic, Vietnamese religion has always been pretty syncretic, and there were many Buddhists among the boat people. In New Orleans East, the Trung Tam Phat Giao Van Hanh temple suffered severe damage during the storm but was rapidly rebuilt by its congregation; further south, the Chua Bo De temple is about 25 minutes outside of the city near English Turn golf course. Both temples are typically Vietnamese Buddhist structures, filled with Chinese-style bodhisattvas (Buddhist saints), photos of and offerings to dead ancestors, and…
reviewed
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B
Louisiana State Bank
Federal-style architecture, with its restrained grace and Classic Roman references, may not be representative of the New Orleans aesthetic. However, architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe’s Louisiana State Bank is a local landmark that reflects the straightforward geometry, plain surfaces and fine detail of the Federal style. Note the elegant, slightly pitched beams over the second-story windows and the narrow arched dormers. Slender wrought-iron balconies extend just far enough to allow the parting of casement shutters to peek out and wave hello. The influence of this style can be observed in many town houses in the French Quarter. Simply patterned cornices commonly found on…
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Royal St
Walk over a little ways from Bourbon St and sober up; this is where you go to engage in the more acceptable vacation behavior of culinary and consumer indulgence rather than party-till-unconscious excess. Royal St, with its rows of high end antique shops, block after block of galleries and potted ferns hanging from cast-iron balconies, is the elegant yin to Bourbon’s Sodom-and-Gomorrah yang. Stroll past the beauty and its sense of patina-ed grace, have a chat with a local as they lounge on their porch, and get a sense of the fun with a dash of the…well…not reserve, but dignity that is the true soul of Vieux Carré
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Vietnamese Farmers’ Market
Probably the most pleasant way to experience local Vietnamese culture is by eating its delicious food, and try not to miss the local markets. The closest you’ll come to witnessing Saigon on a Saturday morning (by the way, lots of local Vietnamese, being southern refugees, still call it ‘Saigon’) is the Vietnamese Farmers’ Market, also known as the ‘squat market’ thanks to the ladies in non la (conical straw hats) squatting over their fresh, wonderful-smelling produce.
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D
Irish Channel
The name Irish Channel is a bit of a misnomer. This historic neighborhood has been the home of many German and black residents living together in a truly multiculti gumbo. This is still a working-class cluster of shotgun houses and you may not want to walk around alone at night, but in general it’s pleasant for ambling. Come St Patty’s day, the biggest block party around takes over Constance St in front of Parasol’s Bar.
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Parkway Partners
The challenge many New Orleanian plant-lovers face is channeling this awesome fecundity into plots that are attractive and utilitarian. Enter Parkway Partners, one of the better NGOs operating in New Orleans at the moment. Besides funding urban tree-planting projects and similar programs, Parkway is looking to expand, with local contribution, its series of community gardens.
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Hong Kong Food Market
Probably the most pleasant way to experience local Vietnamese culture is by eating its delicious food. Try not to miss the local markets; the Hong Kong Food Market is a general Asian grocery store that serves plenty of Chinese and Filipinos, but the main customer base is Vietnamese.
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Old Ursuline Convent
Between 1745 and 1752, the French colonial army built the Old Ursuline Convent, now the oldest structure in the Mississippi River Valley and the only remaining French building in the Quarter.
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Sculpture Garden
The sculpture garden contains a cutting-edge collection in lush, meticulously planned grounds.
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Fair Grounds
The Fair Grounds are the home to the huge springtime New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
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