| The heartbreakingly beautiful French Quarter, where New Orleans began, is battered and bohemian, decaying and vibrant. Kristina Pentland from travel publishers, Rough Guides takes a stroll passed its fanciful cast-iron balconies, hidden courtyards, and time-stained stucco buildings.
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| Bourbon Street
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| The tawdry, touristy, booze-swilled stretch spans the seven blocks from Canal to St Ann streets: a frat-pack cacophony of daiquiri stalls, novelty shops, noisy karaoke bars, and rowdy gay discos.
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| This self-contained enclave is best experienced after dark, when a couple — though by no means all — of its bars and clubs are worth a look, and the sheer mayhem takes on a bacchanalian life of its own. You’ll even come across some fine old-time restaurants.
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| When the attraction of fighting your way through the crowds wanes, it’s easy to dip out again into the quieter parallel streets to regain some sort of sanity.
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| Café du Monde
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| Despite the hype, the crowds, and the sugar-sticky tabletops, this old market coffeehouse is an undeniably atmospheric place to drink steaming café au lait, imbued with chicory, and snack on piping hot, sugary beignets for a couple of dollars — apart from orange juice and hot chocolate, they serve little else.
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| Come early when it’s quiet, or join the night owls in the wee hours, when you can gaze at the starry sky from the covered patio.
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| Ironwork balconies
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| With the intricate filigree tracery, the Quarter’s elegant cast-iron balconies have defined its haunting beauty since the mid-nineteenth century.
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| Elegant Royal Street was the main commercial thoroughfare of the Creole city, inhabited by the wealthiest sugar planters and lined with the finest shops. Its fabulous cast-iron balconies create a stunning streetscape familiar from countless movies, coffeetable books, and postcards.
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| Jackson Square
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| This is where you’ll find some of the city’s major sights: the chic, terraced Pontalba Buildings, their street-level rooms taken up by shops and restaurants; St Louis Cathedral; and flanking the cathedral like stout bodyguards, the Cabildo and Presbytère museums.
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| During the day, everyone passes by at some time or another, weaving their way through the tangle of artists, rainbow-clad palmists, magicians, shambolic jazz bands, and blues musicians.
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| Street musicians
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| You'll find excellent makeshift bands on street corners throughout the Quarter, playing superb roots music — blues, bluegrass, jazz — all day long.
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| (This information has been adapted from New Orleans DIRECTIONS (1st edition), written by Samantha Cook, published by Rough Guides, http://www.roughguides.com. ) |
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