Les Villes des Morts

Where can you find an ex-mayor, a voodoo queen, a business tycoon, jazz musicians, a civil rights proponent, as well as the sister of a general and the wife & child of a governor?
Well of course at our next stop in New Orleans!
Come along on the Canal St. line as we head off to our next stop. A city inside of the city. A microcosim of what New Orleans is and was; the culture, the personalities, the politics and the religions of this unique city. Walking in we could feel both the history and the people who made history. Walking the narrow passageways leads one back in time at one moment and then brings you right back to the present as you move down the crooked paths.  There are ancient ruins to look at, crumbling and showing the extremes of nature and time that have affected this part of the world. And next to those ruins are pristine structures with their beautiful wrought iron fences giving you notice of the boundaries of the owners. Then again there are the large imposing structures well maintained but with statuary that has suffered damage, headless or with perhaps a hand or arm damaged but the body still intact.
Allow me now to introduce you to former Mayor Ernest "Dutch" Morial, New Orleans first black mayor. And trust me ask anyone in New Orleans about the Morial family. They are well quite known. Next to Mayor "Dutch" is Marie LeVeau, reigning queen of Voodoo in New Orleans. She arguably receives the most visitors. Many of those who come are seeking a favor from her so they bring gifts of food, flowers, or candy as well as "rose water" or candles. Her visitors perform elaborate moves that resemble a royal ceremony in seeking from her the favor they wish. But then Marie is a queen, so I guess that is fitting. Another introduction you should have is that of Bernard de Marigny, a New Orleans born Creole. He introduced the game of "craps" to the country and thence the world as well as becoming the first modern style developer of New Orleans selling off his inherited plantation in small lots for over a decade. Another introduction you should have to one of our notables is Mr. Homer Plessy. Mr. Plessy broke the law of Louisiana by boarding a white only railroad car and his case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Plessy vs. Ferguson cemented segregation in the south for decades.
So exactly what place am I writing about? Les Villes des Morts or in english the Cities of the Dead. There are many, many cemeteries or Villes des Morts, and visiting them all was just impossible due to time constraints. So we chose to enjoy the living and visit only two of Les Villes des Morts.
The first was the Saint Louis #1 Cemetery which is located 1 block outside of the French Quarter on Basin Street at St. Louis.  Walking in, we could begin to understand how it must have felt to be one of the first cemetery workers back in 1789. When the cemetery was founded the city was in desperate need of burial space as beginning the year prior New Orleans had suffered a devastating fire which destroyed 80% of the city. It also suffered a flood and an epidemic of yellow fever. In order to perform their duties workers had to come to work inebrieated and they stayed that way throughout their time on duty in order to be able to tolerate the stench.
Our 2nd of the New Orleans Villes des Morts was a visit again by streetcar. This time we took the St. Charles Ave. line to what is now known as the "Garden District." Located on Washington St. is Lafayette Cemetery, the only cemetery in the city to be dedicated to a person, was established for Les Americaines or the Americans. Lafayette was established in 1833 and is the final resting place for many who died of the yellow fever epidemics that regularly occurred in the city. At one point, the victims were so numerous that when the workers arrived in the morning to open the gates, there would be bodies piled up at the gates having been left in the night for burial the next morning. One of the more interesting areas of Lafayette that we found is called "the secret garden." The area is a small square made up of four tombs constructed by friends, "the Quarto," who wished to be buried together. According to Save Our Cemeteries, the Quarto held secret meetings, but the last member destroyed their book of notes. The only evidence of their existence are two keys from their minutes, which have been made into broaches and belong to their descendants.
We chose to tour the two cemeteries alone as we felt like we could read up on the cemeteries and be fine wandering on our own. We noted that before we arrived at the first tomb location in St. Louis # 1 cemetery there was a carriage driver and his guests as well as a tour group of about 15 already there. Two other tour groups of about the same size arrived after us. The same occurred at Lafayette cemetery. As a matter of fact we actually separated in St. Louis # 1 without any problems.
However, I would caution those who are not as intrigued with the macabre or who are uncomfortable wandering alone in a cemetery that a tour group is a good investment. Cost for tours starts at $10 per person and goes up from there depending on what else is included in your tour. Also most of the visitors guides recommend a group for safety as potentially if you were alone in the cemetery (especially possible in less visited sites) you could become an easy crime victim.

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The plaque on Marie Leaveau's vault which shows "gris-gris" or what is considered desecration by the authorities.

Marie Leveau's vault, with the hundreds of "gris-gris" (desecration), gifts. Note the plants growing on top of the vault.

One of the oldest graves, which is also inground. Dated 1815.

This is the vault for the soldiers who fought in the Battle of New Orleans all of whom died in 1815. It has been restored and is maintained.

This is in the protestant part of the cemetery, at the back. The first wife and son of C. C. Clairborne, first American governor of Louisiana dated 1804.

See the stones in pieces in front of the vault. This damage may be from age or nature or both. A platform style tomb.

I didn't find this family vault marked, but if you look closely you will see the half circles in the brick indicating more than one occupant. This is an example of a pediment tomb.



Perpetual care, which I assumed means that some family pays or paid for constant upkeep. This is known as a platform tomb.



There was no other tomb that looked at all like this one in St. Louis #1.

Italian Society Block Vaults, erected so that any person of Italian descent could have a burial place.

The remains or ruins of a tomb in St. Louis #1.

This is the family tomb of the Barbarin family, a prominent jazz family of New Orleans. They have graciously opened the use of their family tomb up to any jazz musician in New Orleans.

An inside section of the wall that surrounds the catholic part of the St. Louis #1 showing the graffiti that mars it.

This was the only table that we found in St. Louis # 1. And as far as I could tell had no grave under it.

One section of the outer vault wall at St. Louis #1

A large family tomb in Lafayette.

Grave markers or Headstones set in a slab at St. Louis #1.

A step tomb from Lafayette.

Another tomb which appeared to be a family one, that has suffered much damage.

A sarcophagus style tomb in St. Louis #1 with it's intricate wrought iron fence still in good shape.

An intersection of the narrow passageways at St. Louis #1.

One section of the wall surrounding Lafayette which shows crumbling.

This is a view of the plants which have taken root on the walls at Lafayette.

The biggest difference between Lafayette and St. Louis #1 is that Lafayette was a planned cemetery, so the passageways are much wider and there are more trees and some grass.

This is to the left of the entrance at Lafayette.

N'Awlins

The year was 1915. A Cajun woman by the name of Marguerite, had become a practioner of Voodoo and a devotee of Marie LeVeau from New Orleans. Even though Marie had died decades before. Marguerite lived in a fair size town for this part of Louisiana in 1915, the town of Saint Malo having approximately 900 people. The town was located on high ground in a swamp.

Now Marguerite had always said that when she went she would take the town with her. Most townspeople gave her a wide berth as she was a practioner of Voodoo and stories of her spells as well as fear of her voodoo power reminded townsfolk to stay clear.

In September of that year Marguerite did pass on. She died on the morning of September 29, 1915. Late that afternoon and early into the morning of the next day the town was hit by what the Cajun people back then called a black storm. The great black storm of 1915, what today we would call a Hurricane was a devastating storm. Destroying much that lied in its path. And the town of Saint Malo was directly in its path.

Of the inhabitants of Saint Malo, only 22 survived the devastating black storm. The town was taken and given into the clutches of Marguerite just as she had always vowed. The remaining townsfolk who were left had the daunting task of burying the dead. But then not all bodies could be found, many were simply claimed by the surrounding swamps. In addition to this sad duty, they were charged with the burial of Marguerite as well.

In order to allow the townspeople to rest in peace it was determined that Marguerite would be buried separately from the victims of the great black storm.

So still today, if you go thru this swamp on a rise near the location of the original spot of the town you will see the old wrought iron fence (with its gate swinging in the breeze) which still surrounds the town's cemetery. Inside that fence are the markers for the people who lost their lives in the year of 1915.  And then separated by several hundred feet you can spot the marker erected for Marguerite. It is in a clearing outside the cemetery fence standing as a lone reminder of the power of Voodoo.

Something that I never thought I would do: a swamp tour. However, swamp tours of all kinds are now available. You can take a large slow moving boat (holding approximately 25-50 people) which is the kind of tour we took, an air boat that holds only a few folks, or a small slow moving boat that holds 12 or less. But Louisiana's long history with swamps, bayous, canals and levees is something not to be missed and is still today very much in evidence. For example the story I gave you above is just one aspect of the swamp tour that we took.

Was the tour fun? Fun to me implies something along the lines of a theme park to a child. As a Baby Boomer, I would say our tour was intriguing, interesting, educational, and  fascinating. But I will also tell you that there was a very broad age range on the boat with us including elementary school children, teens and young adults. We learned and saw, fed and took pictures. Our guide was a knowledgeable native resident who willingly gave us tidbits of information along with pointing out the various wildlife and vegetation. The tour lasted about 2 hours and the time passed so quickly we didn't even realize when it was time to head back.

How do you find a good tour? Our hotel lobby like most contained all the brochures you could ever want to see regarding swamp tours (and for that matter any other tour you'd ever want to see). Check the brochures out, read them, and compare prices and amenities. Ask the desk clerk who they generally recommend also. You can even make a phone call or two and ask additional questions if you want. Generally most tour companies require at least 24 hours notice for booking.

The town cemetery. Note the entrance sign shows the date of the great black storm.

The lone grave by itself, oustide of the cemetery.

American Alligator

One of the swamp animals, a turtle.

More alligators, sunning themselves.

Behind the turtle is what has become a severe nuisance for the swamps, Water hyacynth.

Feeding the alligators barhanded.

This one was starting to come out of the water to get fed.

Alligators according to our guide came come out of the water almost the length of their body.

More than one alligator on this tree.

Behind the flower, is the trail of a snake as it made its way thru the water.

Spanish Moss on the trees.

If you look very closely you can see the snake.

Almost invisible when I took this shot, the only way I could really see the turtle was thru the magnification of my zoom.

An old trapper's cabin. Trappers used to come to the swamps for fox, rabbit, squirrel etc.

White Heron

Large crane protecting its nest.

Our tour was done thru The Old River Road Plantation Adventure and included transportation (pick up at the front door of our hotel), 2 guided plantation visits, lunch & the swamp tour. Price: $125 each, $40 deposit which went toward the total cost. Once we were picked up our driver (also a native) regaled us with an almost non-stop commentary during the drive from our hotel to the first scheduled stop. The link for this company is: http://plantationadventure.com/
As we drove past other plantation main homes and outbuildings our driver was happy to tell us their story, passing points of interest he would recommend what he considered the best ones as well.

All in all this was a part of our trip that I didn't expect to take, much less like. But to be perfectly honest I am glad that I did. After this swamp tour, I expect the next time we're visiting NOLA we'll on board another boat gently moving thru another swamp enjoying it all over again.

Inaugral Post

Welcome to my inaugral post! I hope that you enjoy reading this and viewing the photos as much as I enjoyed bringing them to you.

Many of you have followed my travels on FB and enjoyed the photos published there over the years, but I have decided to move to this type of format to protect my photos from being used in ways I don't want them used (as this has already happened on FB) and to better be able to give you what I consider to be the real feeling of my journeys to various places.

I hope that you will continue to enjoy the pics & posts and that you will encourage others to view these posts as well. I appreciate all of you waiting for this very first post and hope you enjoy seeing and reading it as much as I enjoyed visiting.

The McNay Art Museum

Located in San Antonio, Texas The McNay Art Museum is the subject of my first post. The background picture of the Baby Boomer blog is the front of the McNay mansion as seen from the grounds parking. The black & white photo under the title section of the page is a shot I took of a beautiful iron gate that allows access to the underground workings of the main fountain of the McNay. I took the shot because the repeating pattern of the quartrafoils just struck me.

I went to the McNay because of their current exclusive exhibition: Andy Warhol: Fame and Misfortune which runs thru 5/1/12. If you are planning to visit San Antonio, during that time (or live in S.A.) I highly recommend that you pay the museum a visit and see the exhibit. It is an exhibit of over 150 pieces of all media that runs from the 1950's to 1986, the year before Warhol's death. Some of the pieces that you will see will be the iconic portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland to name a few. Also included are the Campbell Soup cans made famous by Warhol.

For those unfamiliar with the drought in Texas suffice it to say that the beautiful gardens of the McNay like most gardens (and plain ole residential yards for that matter) suffered significantly. However when I visited, the gardens were beginning to come back and were being tended to. Now that the water restrictions for the city have been lifted I fully expect that the beautiful fountains of the McNay will again be flowing and the gardens will be blooming beautifully. When you visit the museum, take a few extra minutes to stroll the gardens and see them for yourself. You might also want to tour the sculpture garden which is towards the rear of the property and is also landscaped to showcase the phonominal sculptures.

Here's the link for the McNay if you need additional information:

http://www.mcnayart.org/

One of the sculptures in the garden of the McNay

The inside of the gazebo located by the water gardens and fountains at the McNay

The iron gate located under the main entrance fountain

One of the blooms located in the gardens at the McNay

The moon over the McNay, which I shot while wandering the gardens

Textures, textures, textures! All of which showed in this shot

What awaits the eye in the McNay gardens

Another of the plants just starting to bloom in the gardens

This iron bench sits on the front porch just outside what was the original front door to the mansion

Above the original front door to the McNay mansion

The entry to the Warhol exhibit located in the McNay

More gardens beauties

Another specimen from the gardens