A horrible part of New Orleans

Day breaks on Esplanade Avenue

I remember when we got our first online review for La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.  It was titled, "Great Rooms.  Horrible Partof Town."  It was half right.  It was published during our second week in business. 

The middle of Esplanade Avenue is not a horrible part of New Orleans.  It is an oasis more than anything else.  Esplanade Avenue is a well-traveled, picturesque street.  If you were at a sidewalk cafe in the French Quarter, would you leave your cell phone on the table while you went to use the rest room?  Only if you are the most trusting soul in the world.  If you do, we hope you have plenty of quarters to call a cab from a pay phone.

If you want to tempt a thief, leave your cell phone unattended within three feet of his or her reach while you take a shower, indoors and out of sight, before changing clothes for a night out.  Then, act surprised.

You don't read about it often, but the French Quarter is ground zero for hustles, scams, and petty theft.  Esplanade Avenue, not so much.  Not at all, really.  An isolated incident is more preventable inconvenience than tragedy.  A new replacement phone was in the mail as soon as the lack of foresight was reported.

All types of people walk Esplanade Avenue, some more honest than others, and it is never wise to tempt fate.  Unless it is their birthday, people don't walk around with dollar bills pinned to their chest in New Orleans.  If your phone is stolen on Esplanade Avenue, your pockets are guaranteed to be a few ounces lighter after you stroll along Frenchmen Street.  If you use common sense you will go far in this city where good memories are made and remade every day.

Is there a horrible part of New Orleans?  It depends on how you define the term.  One person's trash is another person's treasure.  Home is where the heart is.  You can be both lost and found in New Orleans, a world of its own.  Frau Schmitt and I call New Orleans home without regret or trouble, 365 days a year for three years and counting.  366 days during leap years.

Since we got that first review, we tell people who stay in Les Fleurs Suite that they should not leave valuables unattended on the front porch while they shower and change their clothes.  Our advice is usually met with a roll of the eyeballs.  Of course.  We're not in the middle of nowhere.  We are in the beating, singing, dancing heart of a city known all over the world.

There is no horrible part of New Orleans.  The 2200 block of Esplanade Avenue is no exception.  All the reviews that have followed that first one have been nothing but complimentary, not only of the inn and the hosts, but also of the neighborhood.  It is an oasis like nowhere else.  We live in Treme.

Some people like the bland, pre-packed experience that a skyscraper chain hotel offers on Canal Street or in the Warehouse District.  Other people, who have their wits about them, prefer spending a few days and nights in the rest of a big, big-hearted city.  New Orleans is bigger than the French Quarter.  There is magic around every corner for people who have their senses attuned to savor pleasant serendipity.

Keep your wits about you and your valuables close at hand, wherever you are.  Don't be lulled into false complacency by idyllic surroundings.  New Orleans is a living breathing city full of friendly folk, as well as the few bad apples that can spoil a barrel.  In some ways, it is like Des Moines or Denver.  In most ways, it is a different, better, more pleasant world altogether.  We have been in business for seven months.  We have yet to see anyone walk out our front door unhappy.  If you want to stay in a controlled environment, you can charter a cabin on a Carnival cruise ship.

Good memories are made in New Orleans.  Good memories are made at La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.

2216 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans

A votre sante.