 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
New Orleans Noel
|
 [Photo: New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp.] Leading a parade through the French Quarter is Papa Noel, a blend of 18th and 19th century Creole, French and Cajun legends. |
By CAROLYN THORNTON
© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 25, 2001
The holidays are festive, magical affairs in this unique city, where time melts away and Christmas lasts all month long. |
|
"When I first came here," said Gen. Jackson, "there were more chickens than troops, but all the people came together, slaves and men of free color alike."
He introduced me to Capt. Thomas P. Leathers ("You might have seen my steamboat, the Natchez?"), jazz musician Louis Armstrong (who crooned "What a wonderful world"), and the Baroness de Pontalba (builder of the first apartments in the New World).
All of these Strolling Legends appear in the French Quarter throughout December. At set times daily, they dance a quadrille or debate issues of their era at Le Petit Theatre. Attendance is free -- just one of many attractions during the holidays in New Orleans.
Before we parted, Jackson gave me a lesson in "reading" statues, using his own monument in Jackson Square as an example. "If one leg of the horse is raised, the rider died in battle," he said. "If two legs of the horse are raised, the rider triumphed, as in my case. If all four legs of the horse are off the ground, the horse died."
Throughout the area, Christmas celebrations evoke the past. Historic homes trimmed in the 19th century manner welcome guests during the day and for special candlelight tours. "Merriment on Magazine Street" spices up shopping with free cookies and punch. Several hotels and homes invite children to bring their teddy bears or dolls to holiday teas.
"We take the adults on a house tour," said director Marion Chambon of the Beauregard-Keyes House about its Tea Party for the Dolls. "They are the ones talking while the children are trying to listen to the storyteller."
The home is named for Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and author Frances Parkinson Keyes (rhymes with "wise"). During the holidays, miniature tea sets and some of the 200 dolls collected by the author of Dinner at Antoine's are displayed.
First we pray . . .
On Christmas Eve in the old days, families worshipped at Midnight Mass, but afterwards they feasted. In the 19th century, this Reveillon meal was Creole delicacies -- daube glace (jellied and spiced brisket), seafood, duck or egg dishes, and buche de Noel (jelly-filled cake doused with rum and whipped cream).The meal often lasted until dawn. Today, restaurants throughout the city prepare three- and four-course Reveillon menus all month long, blending contemporary cookery with Creole traditions. Beignets (puff donuts dusted with powdered sugar) might be filled with foie gras, or mirliton (a squashlike vegetable) could be stuffed with shrimp and crabmeat.
Free daily demonstrations by chefs from many city restaurants give lessons about the city's favorite dishes.
For instance, chef James Leeming says that whether the pot holds ingredients for a gumbo or jambalaya, "First you make a roux."
Leeming, of Dickie Brennan's Steak House, demonstrated that to make the roux, he was browning equal parts flour and vegetable oil. "Don't use olive oil," he warned, "it burns too easily."
To cool his roux, Leeming adds trinity, which Louisiana cooks know is chopped onions, garlic and bell peppers. Once the ingredients are in the pot, it simmers for two hours. "There's no such thing as a 15-minute gumbo," he cautioned.
Audience members for these demonstrations typically receive recipes and a sample of the daily feature.
As dusk approaches each evening, the live oaks and palms of City Park are illuminated by innumerable lights, to entertain the carloads of people who pass along a 2-mile route. The best way to prolong the magic of this Celebration in the Oaks is to hire a horse-drawn carriage, for the added charm of the clip-clop of hooves.
New displays are added each year to favorites such as the trees of lights in the peristyle, and the alligator-dragon in the lagoon.
If it is raining, take an indoor stroll through the wonderland of lights, Christmas trees and a gingerbread house in the Angel Hair Lobby at the Fairmont Hotel downtown. The visit is free, as are the weekday noontime children's choir performances.
Throughout the season, musical performances enrich the ambience of the city.
 [Photo: New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp.] Church choirs fill St. Louis Cathedral almost nightly during December for free concerts. |
Celtic, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa celebrations add to the melting pot of peoples and customs that make up the contemporary city. Streetcars are decorated with garlands and ribbons. Steamboats churn the Mississippi during caroling cruises. As the costumed character Jules Leon, a 19th century artist and historian, might say, "It is something in and of itself, distinctly Nouvelle Orleans. It's a gumbo."
Celebration on the river
On Christmas Eve along the foggy lower Mississippi River, levee bonfires light the way for Papa Noel, the Cajun Santa who paddles down the river in his pirogue canoe to deliver gifts.
Louisiana plantation owners living in remote areas between Baton Rouge and New Orleans adapted this custom from their French or Spanish ancestors (the definition of being a Creole).
Beginning after Thanksgiving, bonfire clubs begin chopping swamp willows and stacking the logs into triangular piles that can tower 20 feet. Inside, scrap wood burns first, then the willow catches fire, crackling and popping like firecrackers. In St. James Parish between Gramercy, Lutcher and Paulina, miles of bonfires have created such traffic jams on roads and via riverboats on Christmas Eve that a Festival of Bonfires now lights up the levee earlier in December. This family festival offers food, crafts booths, amusement rides, a gumbo cookoff and a Christmas parade.
On both banks of the river, there are candlelight tours of 19th century plantation homes, decorated as for Christmases past. Lantern light and candles enhance the dim lighting at Laura Plantation in Vacherie. Crumbling after years of neglect, this mustard-yellow plantation office-home was rescued and is now a tourist attraction.
During the tour, personal anecdotes and life-size cutouts of former residents recall the customs of plantation life. In the 1800s, decorations consisted of fresh greenery and fruits, whatever was available. Miniature candles were tied to the branches of a tree cut from the garden or swamp. It was only lit on Christmas Eve, and buckets of sand and water were kept nearby to douse any fires.
If you go:
GETTING THERE: Several airlines serve New Orleans from the Tampa Bay area; Southwest has nonstop flights.
STAYING THERE: A mark of Creole courtesy is the lagniappe, a little something extra. Thus, numerous hotels offer Papa Noel rates in December. For a complete listing of participating hotels, restaurants serving Reveillon menus and a calendar of events, contact French Quarter Festivals Inc., 100 Conti St., New Orleans, LA 70130; call toll-free 1-800-673-5725 or (504) 522-5730, fax to (504) 522-5711. The Web site: www.frenchquarterfestivals.org; e-mail: info@frenchquarterfestivals.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For news on events throughout the city and a copy of the free Christmas New Orleans Style guide, which includes hotel and restaurant offers, call toll-free 1-800-474-7620 or go to the Web site www.neworleansonline.com.
For more information on the levee bonfires festival, go to the Web sites www.festivalofthebonfires.org or www.stjamesla.com.
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
From the Times
Travel page
From the AP
Features wire
