May, 2023, A and V
We roll into New Orleans at night, crossing the Pearl River after sundown on our way from Virginia to Texas. The crescent moon floats above, guiding us into the Crescent City for what could be a couple of hours or an overnight. This is a spontaneous detour, one we decided a day ago as our break point on the “southern route” to our event, a journey we together have been yet unable to achieve.
I was here last in December 2016, a 3-day visit in a different phase of life, culminating in the drumming at Congo Square with my sister-friend Kineen Mafa (aka T). The summer before that, on another visit, we were shooting a video in a cemetery during a nighttime thunderstorm. Creative expression flowed through divinely, automatically, and that energy has existed for ages in this fertile crescent basin. Is it still possible to pass through here, even as a ‘tourist’ and not leave with a new song or a story?
While eating beignets at Café du Monde in le Vieux Carré, the French Quarter (the café is open till 11), I slip back to a fountain behind the restaurant and find this “Michelle” sculpture and mural. The mural, “Window into the Past” by Cayenne Shakor, depicts an 1800s scene at the New Orleans French Market and includes 5 historic figures such as Edgar Degas, Rose Nicaud, and Marie Laveau. It was originally painted in 2006 (after Katrina), then was damaged during Hurricane Ida in 2021, and has since been restored. As it turns out, I’ll meet the artist tomorrow at his outdoor shop next to the café.
The Belle of New Orleans
Tried to show me once how to tango
Wrapped around your feet
Wrapped around like good little roses
Tori Amos, “Blood Roses” (Boys for Pele, 1996)
As for “Michelle,” she is the creation of sculptor Paul Perret, and she first sat at this fountain in 1984. Gayle de la Houssaye, a local musician and visual artist known as the “Rose of New Orleans,” was the model for the sculpture, which Perret named after his daughter Michelle. She (the sculpture) posed for photos with tourists at this spot for 37 years, then disappeared after Hurricane Ida damaged the mural; she was also restored, cleaned and put back at her fountain. Here is what the spot looked like after Ida in 2021.
I have not seen Michelle, the mural, and the fountain on my previous visits to le Vieux Carré, but this is now one of my favorite peaceful spots to sit in this city (as a lover of fountains and murals).
Unfortunately, I can’t sit for long, because it’s getting late and we are definitely going to spend the night in the city. In a pinch, we find India House Hostel, which has everything we want for a decent price two miles from the quarter.
This elegant hostel includes the main columned house and connected neighboring houses along a block of Lopez St just off Canal St by a streetcar stop. There is a fountain in the courtyard, where I’ll be sitting at some point. It also has several interesting murals and doors, and the rooms each have names and semi-religious themed decor. We are taken through a maze of rooms, a courtyard and hallways to “Praise” – our large room with yellow walls and a comfortable bed.
Though we are tired, the energy of the city at night calls to us, and soon we find ourselves walking Frenchmen St and then around Saint Louis Cemetery, No 2.
SAINT LOUIS CEMETERY, NO. 2
This three-city-block cemetery off Claiborne St is closed, and it’s not the one with Marie Laveau’s tomb nor the one where we shot the video during a storm, but it is still great for moody pictures of shadowy, tall tombs from outside the fence. When a man walks close behind us around a corner, it’s time to move on.
Consecrated in 1823, Saint Louis No. 2 holds the stone vaults for some notable New Orleans citizens from the 1800s, for example, Jean-Baptiste Dupiere and Pierre Soulé; jazz musicians like Danny and Louisa Barker; Black civil war martyr Andre Cailloux; 1812-era pirate Dominique You, and even an exiled president of Haiti, Pierre Nord Alexis. About a fourth of the tombs were destroyed when Interstate 10 was built over the northern edge in the mid-1900s. Though it can’t be visited currently, here is a page for a self-guided tour to read about the history of this cemetery and the people who were buried here.
St. Louis Cemetery No. 2
nolacatholiccemeteries.org
St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 remains locked everyday due to vandalism and other issues. All tours are suspended – for an appointment to visit your family tomb, please call 504-596-3050.
Frenchmen St on a weeknight is nice – people are out, but it’s not too busy, and live music plays in every bar. Our attention is on a street musician, Gabriel Paul, at a corner playing keyboard and singing through an effects box on a recycled-metal cart attached to his bicycle. His music creates a reverberating ambiance, and it reminds me of a place and time: Atlanta experimental music nights in the mid-2000’s.
You can find him on Instagram at @thegabrielpaul or playing music (for now) on the streets of New Orleans.
Back at India House, we chat with some of the staff and other folks staying here who are still awake. From the porch of the main house, one points out the grand, old church across the street and says it’s been “vacant since Katrina.”
In the morning, there is coffee and the showers are hot and wonderful.
VOODOO SPIRITUAL TEMPLE
After some personal matters we go to the Voodoo Spiritual Temple on Rampart St. Priestess Miriam gives us blessings and empowerment from her altar room, where dieties from many faiths, angels, and insences gather around us. The shop carries the Priestess’s crafted jewelry, gris-gris, incense, candles, oils, dolls, and more in a small, bright space. Some items are dedicated to a certain orisha, loa or important spiritual ancestor, such as Oya, Papa Legba, and Marie Laveau. There is a coyote bone rosary and “love potion no. 9.”
I get one of the Spirit Dolls that was handmade by a village woman in Senegal and imported directly by Priestess Miriam. This one has symbols reminiscent of the chakana (Andean cross) and colors of Oya on her dress and scarf, with a divine scent. I take her camping and call her “Rafiki” (friend); as we sit by the fire ring, I tell her stories and set intentions of change with the setting sun.
https://voodoospiritualtemple.org/shop/ols/products/handmade-senegalese-spirit-dolls
Priestess Miriam also offers spiritual guidance sessions, workshops, and an email newsletter. Most of the items in the shop are also available here, too, in the online store. https://voodoospiritualtemple.org/
After the temple, it’s ‘red beans on the page’ at Neyow’s café… we eat on the patio as clouds cover the city, and it gets really muggy. Like the Thick air, we could dwell here, but the day is going quickly. Traffic builds on the westbound freeway, and we find a good radio station before it fades in the bayou.
MUSIC PLAYLIST
“Voodoo Child (slight return)” – Jimi Hendrix https://youtu.be/84ZzDXF-Bhs
“Marie Laveau” – Dr Hook https://youtu.be/VtdQiOPRDfA
“Iko Iko” – The Dixie Cups, live in Kissimmee, FL https://youtu.be/FFutVwDpK9c
Iko Iko performed on The Tonight Show with The Roots, Sia and Natalie Portman https://youtu.be/FMQRfliyznQ
“Gris-Gris Gumbo ya-ya” -Dr John https://youtu.be/b4J8VrprrGE
“Almost There” by Anika Noni Rose from The Princess and the Frog https://youtu.be/ThMwHKfzz1I
“Baby Please Don’t Go” by Mississippi Fred McDowell https://youtu.be/pKPLoXtg0eA
Music by @thegabrielpaul – live performances on Instagram… my recording is coming soon
“Drones of Love” (my song) https://foundobjectsofdesire.bandcamp.com/track/drones-of-love-blues About two weeks after this visit, I finally pick up my guitar and play this broken blues song from Demos of ’05, with a long “crossroads” (of life) section and updated lyrics about Papa Legba, lost love and letting go. Rafiki is beside me.
Gazing into the shattered mirror
The new “Drones of Love”
Memories of 20 years past…
The crossroads turns her on again..
(last recorded in 2005)
LINKS
Cayenne Shakor and Gallery Cayenne www.gallerycayenne.com
India House Hostel, 124 S Lopez St, New Orleans, LA (504) 821-1904 https://indiahousehostel.com/
Voodoo Spiritual Temple, 1428 N Rampart St, New Orleans, LA Temple Phone (504) 943-9795 https://voodoospiritualtemple.org/
Neyow’s Creole Café, 3332 Bienville, New Orleans, LA 70119 https://neworleans.neyows.com/new-orleans-neyow-s-creole-cafe-new-orleans-food-menu
Thanks for following my journey and for your support! -Arianna @starryarideer
arianna's creative travels 