This week's images are postcards of French Quarter courtyards from the 1930's.  I recently found a treasure of a book, "New Orleans Holiday," by Eleanor Early, published in 1940.  The following is an excerpt:

There are some cities that resemble women in one way or another, you remember the quote, ''Paris is a woman with flowers in her hair.'  I've always felt that if there is any town which could be described as a woman, it's old New Orleans.  There's a poem I like that could have easily been written about that city:

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Of all the ancient buildings in the Vieux Carre, few have been pictured more or had as many tales told about them, as the old plastered-brick building at the corner of Bourbon and Bienville Streets.  Known for having dispensed a potent green beverage originally made from wormwood, it was named for this infamous drink - first as the "Absinthe Room" and, finally, by the name it bears today, the "Old Absinthe House."

When the building was erected by Francisco Juncadella and Pedro Font in 1807, it was the combination residence/business establishment of Font & Juncadella, importers of foodstuffs, wines and other goods from their native city of Barcelona, Spain.  Their first commission house had been at Bourbon and St. Ann Streets, in 1802, but an increasing business demanded a larger building.

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Sunday, January 24th was a day that made history in New Orleans.

SAINTS - NFC CHAMPIONS!     SAINTS - SUPERBOWL BOUND!

Walter Isaacson, native New Orleanian and former CEO of CNN, tells a story about Paul Tagliabue calling him just after the levee failures in 2005, asking whether the city could continue to support the team.  It might have been the most crucial phone call in the history of the city.  Isaacson told him, "I promise you that New Orleans will love the Saints forever, because they will know that single act of loyalty kept the city's hope alive."

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According to a legend of long standing, when the Mortuary Chapel on Rampart Street (now, Our Lady of Guadalupe) was built in 1826 to serve as a burial church for yellow fever victims, the priests sent off to Europe for a statue of the Virgin Mary.  Many months later, a ship arrived with two crates instead of one.  They opened the first and it contained the statue of Mary they'd commissioned.  Then, they opened the other - unexpected - crate, which bore only the word "Expedite" on the outside of the crate (as in, "expedite this shipment").  When they opened the box, they found a statue of what looked like a Roman centurion.  The legend continues that, mistaking the word on the outside of the crate for the name of a saint within, they set the statue up and called him "St. Expedite."

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NEW ORLEANS | It's been quite awhile since we've visited the Garden District, so I thought it would be a good day for a stroll through that beautiful neighborhood. There are so many notable and historic buildings there, I'm sorry we only have space for a few!

The house known as Colonel Short's Villa, 1448 Fourth Street, was built by architect Henry Howard for Kentucky Colonel Robert Short in 1859. The Italian-Renaissance house is best known for its famous ironwork cornstalk fence. An often-repeated story is that Short's wife missed the cornfields in her native Iowa, so he had a cornstalk fence built for her. Another explanation is that his wife chose it because it was the most expensive fence in a building supply catalog. This cornstalk fence, unlike the one on Royal Street, has not been painted and still has its original colors. In 1863, Union Troops occupied Colonel Short's Villa and second Civil War occupational governor Nathaniel Banks was quartered here. The house was returned to its owners after the war.

Food's been on my mind lately (well, let's face it, food's usually on my mind).  But, after a friend mentioned La Louisiane Bistro the other day, I started thinking about the long history of that venerable establishment.

La Restaurant de la Louisiane was established in 1881, on Rue Iberville, by Louis Bezaudun and his wife, Ann.  The building itself was constructed in 1837, the former mansion of James Walters Zacharie, merchant prince and illustrious host.  In 1890, the Bézauduns were joined by Ann’s nephew, Fernand Jules Alciatore.  Under Alciatore's management, the excellent French cuisine, as well as, Fernand's reputation as a master host, attracted guests from all over the world.  In 1920, he purchased the restaurant and managed it until his death in 1930.

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This is the third in a 4-part series of excerpts from Grace King's wonderful 1920's book, "New Orleans: The Place and the People."

Visitors who came to 1830's New Orleans wrote all kinds of flattering things about it. The famous English traveller, James Silk Buckingham, who was in the city in 1839, said that, below Canal street, everything reminded him of Paris:  the lamps hanging from ropes across the streets, the women in gay aprons and caps, the language, the shops, particularly the millinery establishment on Royal and Toulouse streets, "La Belle Créole," with its beautiful oil-painted sign, representing a lady in costume de bal and another in costume de promenade; the winning persuasiveness of the shopkeepers; the style of living; the love of military display, and the amusements, operas, concerts, ballets, balls and masquerades, without intermission, from November to May; persons coming from theatres at midnight, remaining at masquerades until daylight.

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This is the second in a series of excerpts from Grace King's wonderful 1920's book, "New Orleans: The Place and the People."

Statistics alone are the proper chroniclers of New Orleans' growth and prosperity after it became an American city.  From eight thousand at the time of the cession, the population of the city rose to thirty-three thousand the year after the battle of New Orleans; by 1819, it was forty-one thousand; ten years later, fifty thousand; in 1840, one hundred thousand.  New Orleans' population, at that time, ranked fourth in the Union, with New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore alone outnumbering her.  In 1812 the first steamboat came down the river to the city; in 1821 there were two hundred and eighty-seven arrivals of steamboats.  The year after the battle the harbour was white with sails, and fifteen hundred flatboats and five hundred barges tied up at their landings.  As many as six thousand flatboatmen at a time trooped in the streets.  The city walls were thrown down and the forts demolished.  The moat was filled and made into boulevards:  Canal, Rampart and Esplanade. The old Marquis de Marigny turned his plantation into blocks and streets:  Love, Greatmen, Good Children, Piety, with a few fixed names, Mandeville, Marigny, Kerlerec, Champs Elysées, Enghien.  This section of the city is still called by the old-fathered, Faubourg Marigny or "third" municipality.

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I recently re-read Grace King's 1920's book, "New Orleans: The Place and the People" and realized all over again the importance of her contribution in chronicling the city's history.  Not only that, but Miss King's passion for the city shines through in every paragraph, making it, not only interesting and informative, but a joy to read.  For the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some excerpts from the book.  Since the winter season is upon us, that's where I'll begin -- with the winter social season of 1825:  its opera, theater, balls and holiday and Mardi Gras festivities.

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