French Quarter, New Orleans

Luckily, we didn't have any - honest. How so, you ask? Simple - I walk right up to someone who looks like a local, tell them I'm a tourist who's never been to their beautiful city and ask their advice. I've found many a great restaurant this way. Good as the NO restaurants are, lets face it, the locals can't keep dropping a "C" note every night for dinner and they have to eat some where. Ditto for attractions. I noticed a free ferry from Canal St to Algiers, a couple of locals assured me, it wasn't worth the free ride. A wasted trip avoided - too many other good things to see. Give it a try, I've never had anyone refuse to help; although finding a local in the French Quarter does require a little perseverance.

Luckily, we didn't have any - honest. How so, you ask? Simple - I walk right up to someone who looks like a local, tell them I'm a tourist who's never been to their beautiful city and ask their advice. I've found many a great restaurant this way. Good as the NO restaurants are, lets face it, the locals can't keep dropping a "C" note every night for dinner and they have to eat some where. Ditto for attractions. I noticed a free ferry from Canal St to Algiers, a couple of locals assured me, it wasn't worth the free ride. A wasted trip avoided - too many other good things to see. Give it a try, I've never had anyone refuse to help; although finding a local in the French Quarter does require a little perseverance.

Don't be fooled by the people that tell you"It's worth it..." cause it's NOT worth it! Even when it's only 5 or 6 bucks per person to get in. It's NOT worth it!! You will walk around bored out of your mind feeling guilty if you leave without sufficiently wasting your time there because you've just spent money to get inside.

The Convent is MUCH smaller than it appears on the diagram in the brochure. You only get to walk around the first floor and there simply is not much worth looking at. There's an old wood desk, and a small sad room where they locked up the poor orphans apparently, and that's pretty much it. Oh, and you can step outside into the garden (where nothing but grass is growing) where there are some statues of people praying and they aren't even old statues. Go to Rome.

The Presbytere had a Zulu Exhibit for $6/person. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, we blindly paid and went in. First mistake. Maybe this experience soured us before going to the Ursuline Convent. Not to put down the culture nor the significance of this group of people and their traditions, but we're just saying, the Bob Mackie designs on display at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, showing all of Cher's old stage costumes, was about the same with a bit more flare. It was boring. We left without seeing everything.

Unique Suggestions: If someone drags into this Convent, then I suppose you will enjoy the one thing we enjoyed which was the Miniature display of the city of New Orleans. That was kinda cool. And a great place to pee in a nice bathroom before you continue on your way.

The best thing about the Zulu Exhibit was the air conditioning.

Fun Alternatives: Just walk around the OUTSIDE of all these museums, they are the coolest part! And you can imagine far better than what you will actually get to see inside.

The police is very aggressive on writing traffic violations. There is a small "no left teurn between 7 to 9 am" sign at N. Peters and Bienvile (first traffic light after going from Canal Street) that is not very obvious because the sign is placed on the traffic light, not before the intersection. I've seen a single police officer stopped 5 cars in less than 3 minutes! During that 3 minutes, the officer could not even finish writing the first ticket (for 3 times).

You have to have a mindset before you come that the whole French Quarter is a tourist trap. It's fun, anyway!! It is such a unique area to walk around in....you have to go into the souvenir and voodoo shops. Its part of the experience. The prices are inflated here and there are many other places to eat, drink, and be merry throughout!!

Unique Suggestions: If you are a drinker, go into one of the many frozen drink establishments on Bourbon Street and get yourself a blue frozen drink.....any blue one will do. You will be sure to relax in no time....

I own a second home in the French Quarter, and what everyone needs to understand is that beneath the surface of souvenir shops, tourist restaurants and bars, it's a living, breathing community of people. Bourbon street is touristy, but if you take the time to look, there are still a number of very good restaurants, shops, galleries and other attractions that are well worth your time. The French Quarter is the heart of New Orleans and has been for hundreds of years.

Unique Suggestions: There are tourist traps that any first-timer to New Orleans must experience. You can't go to Memphis without once seeing Graceland or Venice without at least once taking a gondola ride, and you can't go to New Orleans without at least one visit to Pat OBriens, one trip to a sleazy strip club, having one hurricane, and stoping to watch one street performer for more that ten minutes. Get them out of your system, put them on your "done that" list, and then spend the rest of your time exploring the quiet streets that college kids find boring.

Don't wager $20 on a game of chess. Not sure what I was thinking here as I am a novice chess player. I did manage to stay in the game a bit, though in the end one by one all of my chess pieces were taken.

Unique Suggestions: Maybe distract the person by yelling or something just to try and be funny. Perhaps try an even make "smalltalk", though I don't think these chess players are the sociable type. Maybe ask if he's ever seen the Bond movie that was filmed in New Orleans. At least make the $20 enjoyable.

Fun Alternatives: Anything Else!

If you're in new orleans you're bound to end up on jackson square at one point or another. the shops there aren't really anything to write home about and you can find anything there for about half as much if you go up about a block or two.

the park inside the gates though was a great place to sit and read my book while munching on a muffeletta from central grocery. it's green and beautiful when it's not raining of course:P

I have to mention, most people mock the palm readers and psychics who set up shop here, but let me tell you a story about the nicest man who helped me out while I was there.
I was looking for The Bottom Of the Tea Cup Tea Room because I had heard stories of the Octoroon Mistress who had taken up residency as their local haunting. it was supposed to be located right on Royal near Jackson Square. I looked and I looked and I couldn't find it so I decided to ask someone for directions. well no one could tell me where it was located.

finally I get to Jackson Square and I decide to ask one of the Palm readers for directions. I go up to this withered old man who has a brightly colored table and ask him if he can point the way. he proceeds to tell me to go where I had just come from.

Unique Suggestions: Now when I told him it wasn't there, he actually had someone watch his booth while he walked me to the exact location on royal street. turns out they had sold it to a clothing store which was why I couldn't find it.

out of curiousity i asked him how much he charged for a palm reading and he told me he worked on donations and that i could give him whatever I thought it was worth.

he was fantastic. he was able to pinpoint exact moments in my life that had occured and he wasn't vague about it either. he also predicted some future scenarios that sound pretty realisitc considering my current situation. and that was without me giving any inclination or prompting as to whether he was right or wrong. he took about an hour and a half and then we just sat and talked for another half an hour. he was just such an interesting man, he had taught history at burkley, traveled many different places, currently lived with his ex wife and studied palmistry and tarot with a 95 year old man who for the first 8 years would only allow him to watch - and still kicking strongly at 75, had survived a long bout with skin cancer. he also related a couple of stories about past readings he had done for people that had turned out badly but had been accurate all the same and how he felt about that.

I think just getting to talk to him was enough entertainment to pay him for a reading. the fact that he was pretty much on the money was just icing on the cake.
I was ready to pay him what going to a liscenced psychic would cost but he wouldn't accept more than 30 bucks from me. the nicest man, i tell you.

the next day, I was looking for the meeting place for the ghost tours and with my horrible sense of direction of course, couldn't find it. who comes running to the rescue out of the blue? you got it. told me it looked like i was lost again::grin:: he walked me to the oyster bar where the tour was gathered and left.

Fun Alternatives: so I guess my 'at least do this tip' is visit the old man with the colorful table under the umbrella and get your palm read or have him tell you a story or two. you'll recognise him by his whithered skin, twinkling eyes and friendly and inviting smile.

by the way, tell him the 'pretty girl with the clean karma' sent you.:P

As with so many famous places, the entrepreneurial spirit pushes the art of decorum to the street and gives way to tacky tourist shops pushing any and all kinds of cheap trinkets to those from abroad…and that’s exactly what’s happened to the French Quarter here in New Orleans….cheap Mardi Gras beads are sold year round, mass-produced porcelain masks are pilfered by the less discerning public and those god awful stupid-arse T-shirt shops are a dime…

Unique Suggestions: If you want to avoid all things “tourista” in the Quarter, do not go into any shops that have an alligator in the window or doorway….with that said, there are a lot of redeeming qualities in the Quarter…Royal Street is actually very nice and Chartres has all those funky shops that you would expect and there’s the Cigar Factory on Decatur Street, one of my absolute favorite places in Nola…

I guess you have to take the bad with the good and the French Quarter has a lot of both. Regardless, I still wish would someone get that stupid Coyote Ugly bar the hell outta Nola, it was a stupid movie for Christ sake and it will never be a cool bar, especially in this town….

Regardless of where you park near the French Quarter, it's going to cost you at least $20 a day to park your car (and usually more during Mardi Gras and The Jazz Festival).

Unique Suggestions: Consider using the valet parking at Harrah’s Casino on Canal Street. Just offer a small tip (usually a couple of dollars is fine) and you can park all day. Just be sure that you walk into the casino through the front and exit out the back. Keep in mind that on weekends and holidays Harrah's parking lot fills quickly, so it's first come, first serve.