One of the first things I noticed about New Orleans was the colorful doors, intricate wrought iron gates, and shuttered windows throughout the historic downtown. The secret to discovering the magic of the Crescent City requires pushing open these doors and peeking around the corners.
We passed under the arch that read “Louis Armstrong Park”, through the open gate, and into Congo Square. Located just outside the French Quarter, it’s one of the most significant sites in American cultural history. Under French and Spanish colonial law, and later under American rule, enslaved people in Louisiana were given Sundays as a day of rest: Code Noir. In New Orleans, they were permitted to gather here to sell goods, dance, drum, and sing. Code Noir was rare and specific to New Orleans, a mix of African, Caribbean, and Creole cultures. Congo Square was the birthplace of jazz, blues, and much of American popular music. But this creative outlet existed inside, not outside, the system that made it possible. Code Noir doesn’t represent freedom. It was always in control of the enslavers who permitted it and the gatherings were tolerated because they served the interests of a slaveholding city.
On Saturday night, we joined a ghost/history/cocktail tour which took us through the doorway of the Bourbon O Bar, home of the Roffignac cocktail. Named after Louis Philippe de Roffignac, it is bourbon mixed with a raspberry shrub. The cocktail had disappeared in 1986 when the restaurant that featured it, Maylié’s, closed. A tour guide recalled the drink while doing research and wondered how it could disappear from the city altogether. He convinced the Bourbon O Bar to add it to their menu, and now he’s added this stop to his repertoire. Like so many things in New Orleans, it took remembering it to bring it back to life.
Outside of Jackson Square, dozens of spiritualists set up their tables for Tarot card readings and fortune telling. And just a few steps away, we pushed open the heavy oak doors of St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest continuously operating Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States. The arcane scene out front seemed to contradict what’s inside the church, until you dig deeper into the religious history of New Orleans. Catholicism arrived with the French and Spanish colonizers and Voodoo developed alongside it, brought and reshaped by enslaved West Africans and refugees from Haiti. The two religions didn’t stay separate. Enslaved and free Black Catholics in New Orleans often practiced Voodoo alongside Catholicism rather than instead of it. Catholic saints became synonymous with Voodoo spirits, and Voodoo ceremonies sometimes incorporated Catholic prayers and imagery. Notorious New Orleans resident Marie Laveau was famous for her Voodoo, while also maintaining her standing as a practicing Catholic. In this city of contradiction, both religions need the other to survive.
The colorful storm shutters keep the French windows protected from hurricanes that regularly batter the city. Gates leading to private patios stay locked to keep out drunk revelers who may stumble out of Bourbon Street and into nearby residential neighborhoods. The fences and gates around the city’s parks serve a similar purpose. But the shutters, doors and gates can be as porous as a copper colander. Katrina blew not only the shutters off of windows, but the entire roof. Many Tarot card readers attend weekly mass. Music born in Congo Square found its way into Paris and New York clubs. In this city, stories and people long considered dead and buried can be resurrected with the flicker of a memory.
As we waited to meet our tour guide on Saturday night outside a locked up Jackson Square, we watched a large, plucky rat make its way along the low stone wall. Buskers and spiritualists and tourists moved out of its way. It leapt up to the top of the wall, fell, and leapt again, this time landing successfully, and trundled its way into the park. Nature easily bypassing the iron bars placed to keep people out.
