Much ado about Westwego

November, 2011

Salaville is the old historic part of Westwego.  Westwego is pronounced West-We-Go, and that is why it is named what it is.  Westwego is a city on the West Bank of the Mississippi River.  It is like visiting another world, but it is really just across the river from Audubon Park, uptown.

When people travel Europe, they like to visit where their families came from.  Some of the people who visit New Orleans do that, too.  For whatever reason, very few travelers to New Orleans also visit Westwego.

Your humble narrator rarely visits Westwego.  The first time I was there, my camera broke.  The second time I was there, I didn't bring my phone because there isn't any reception.  I don't have any pictures of Westwego, only memories.  Here are the parts that I remember:

The whole way to Westwego is on an elevated highway.  You get to see all of Gretna and Harvey from about 40 feet in the air.  It is a stunning view for miles.  The whole road must have cost a fortune.  My guess is that it is built this way in case of a flood on the West Bank.

The money must have run out around Westwego because the multi-lane elevated highway becomes a two-lane stretch of asphalt that hugs the ground between two drainage ditches that go on as far as the eye can see.  

They eat a lot of fresh fish in Westwego.  That means fin fish, crawfish, oysters and crabs.  There are fishmongers up and down both sides of the road that sell fresh live shrimp by the bucketful at a buck-fifty a pound.  Selling fish looks like Westwego's most profitable industry.

There's a farmers market in Westwego.  We went out there once when it was supposed to be open.  It seemed like driving to another part of the world on our motor scooters, especially after taking the Harvey Tunnel.  It was the second time we were in Westwego.  Unfortunately, it was the last time we were ever really there.  

I don't have any pictures of Westwego and I have always regretted that.  Frau Schmitt can confirm this.  She remembers everything I tell her.

Luckily, I stumbled across someone who did take some pictures of where the farmers market is held in Westwego.  It seems to be the last blog post this chap ever made.  Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us.

Salaville is the part of Westwego where farmers hold the farmers market when the farmers show up.  The most recognizable part of the neighborhood is an empty park, one that looks to have cost a pretty penny.

I do remember Salaville looking like the pictures, but, if I recall correctly, most of the buildings are pastel painted facades complete with working balconies.  I may be mistaken, but I distinctly remember thinking that it would be an ideal location for someone looking to shoot a candy-colored civics film. 

Who isn't a sucker for a colorful place?

Tammie, the housekeeper

I asked Tammie, the housekeeper, where she lives.  "I've told you a hundred times, I live in Westwego," she said.  I recalled she had told me that.  I must have forgotten.  

"Why can't you be more like Frau Schmitt?" Tammie, the housekeeper, asked me.  

When Tammie, the housekeeper, gets like this, I picture her smoking a pipe.  I take her more seriously that way.  

I told Tammie, the housekeeper, "If we were more alike, the lady of the house and I couldn't possibly be the perfect team we have turned out to be."  

I knew Frau Schmitt was shaking out the curtains off the balcony, and that she could hear everything I said.  "He's right this time, again," Frau Schmitt called over her shoulder.  She is usually right about these things.

A votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.