The Smell of Decadence

The one thing you can't avoid in the Quarters in New Orleans is the smell. It is the smell of four centuries of stale tobacco, beer, wine, & spirits, plus pot, piss, puke, & perspiration. The heat bakes the smell into the pavement and brick and mortar, and it rots in the humidity. Wisdoc asked me what I thought it smelled like. "It smells like decadence," I said, before breaking it down into its constituent elements. The smell stays with you for days after you leave, lingering on your clothes, in your hair, in your car.

Notwithstanding, New Orleans is a grand old American city, and its French Quarter is one of the most picturesque and interesting places I've ever visited. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a great restaurant, each with its own take on the region's unique cuisine. Remarkable colonial and antebellum architecture, often looking rundown on the outside but elegant on the inside. Courtyards full of gorgeous tilework and wrought-iron balustrades and semi-tropical plants. It almost feels like a different country. This was my fourth time there.

(As always, click pics to embiggen a slideshow.)

An Omen? An interloper who wanted to come with

Former slave quarters where we stayed 2 nights

Shrimp Creole at Galatoire's: The Best Anywhere!

Yes, Please

Typical Quarters House

Typical Quarters Structure

Spare Not the Wrought Iron

Apparently a Selling Point in the Big Easy

Around Jackson Square

Four Styles of Architecture

Trouble Makers 

French Market Goods

Maybe the Most Picturesque Square in America—Reputedly the inspiration for the Disney Castle

More Typical Local Architecture

Ditto

Are Your Oysters This Large?

Since New Orleans is below Sea Level, burials are above ground

More Architecture

Sunset on the Mississippi

Night Scene

Mummer and Street Musician

More Oysters & Beer, Please

Bourbon Street at Night

Spooky Jesus Shadow off Bourbon Street