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| This is the Sheraton Hotel I stayed at, on Canal Street, steps from the French Quarter (above) |
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| The beginning of the ghost tour (above), where our tour guide (blonde woman in black) told us about Pere Dagobert, a Capuchin monk who became pastor of St. Louis Church in 1745. Also a champion of the poor and disenfranchised, Pere Dagobert was an immensely charismatic personality. When, in 1764, the French found out that New Orleans had been ceded to Spain, there was instant fear and rebellion. Six ringleaders of the revolt, prominent friends of the monk, were executed by a firing squad and left unburied by order of the Spanish governor.
Pere Dagobert would not allow this outrage, and somehow, under the watchful eyes of the Spanish garrison, recovered the bodies, notified the families, and performed a burial Mass in the church. The bodies were buried with a Catholic ceremony in St. Louis Cemetery Number 1, after a funeral procession during a rainstorm.
The haunting by Pere Dagobert is particularly beautiful. Also seen in the Cathedral, he is best known for his heavenly voice singing hymns along the streets from the Cathedral to the cemetery. His "Kyrie" rings out especially mournful on a rainy night. |
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| Above is a photo of what used to be the Old Ursuline Convent, now haunted by the nuns who used to live there. The convent is the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley and the only one to survive from French Colonial times. It was constructed in 1745. |
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| The photos above are of the La Petite Theater, haunted to this day. |
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| The photo above used to be the home of Delphine LaLaurie. It was here, in the antebellum days, that firefighters called to extinguish a blaze discovered a torture chamber in the mansion's attic where a cruel mistress had practiced unspeakable horrors upon chained slaves. Madame LaLaurie's legacy is stoked to this day by claimed sightings of a small child wandering the building's rooftop, as though seeking escape from long-ago brutality, only to plummet towards the ground and vanish. |
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| This is a house that has been for sale off and on throughout the years. The story goes that this supposed French nobleman, a handsome, rich bachelor, moved into it back in the 1800s and always threw lavish parties, although he didn't socialize otherwise. Young women began disappearing, turning up dead with the blood drained from them. The one thing they had in common? Those parties. When authorities went to speak with the nobleman, he had disappeared, along with all the furnishings in the house. Out in a shed in the back a bottle with red liquid was found - human blood. He was never heard from again and since then no one has been able to live there. Sotheby's currently has the listing for it, although I couldn't find this particular building on their site. |
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| The photo above is of the Andrew Jackson Hotel, which had originally been an orphanage. Guests often report the laughter of children in the hallways, even though it is currently an adults-only hotel. Employees don't stay long either - there were Help Wanted and Vacancy signs in the front window. |
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| Some of the others on the tour. The girl in blue was at one of my talks she's from California (and bought one of my books). |
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| For the life of me, I can't remember the story associated with the photo above, but it's a typical New Orleans building. |
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| The photo above of the tiny house is one that the tour guide's friend used to own and live in. There was a ghost in it who liked to move things around. When the friend's family got too big for the house, she sold it. Don't know if the folks standing there know it's supposed to be haunted, but the skinny woman I could swear I've seen on COPS:New Orleans as a local hooker. |
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| Read about the ghosts that inhabit Arnaud's Restaurant, above. |
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| This yellow house was once the home of Civil War General Beauregard.Now he haunts it. |
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| The photo above shows how some house owners protected their property - this one is called "devils iron" - and these pointy spikes aren't as sharp as they used to be, but still look darned deadly to me. |
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| Yes, that's a tail she's wiggling with her hand. And it's attached to the back of her pants. She was very proud of her tail. Just one of the many strange sights in Nawlins. |
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| A typical street musician (this one was pretty bad - I hope he used the money he got for lessons). |
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| No horses - just mules pulling carriages for tours. |
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| Here comes an impromptu Nawlins parade! (above) |
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| Just some street shots (above) |