What the Tour Guides Say on Esplanade Avenue

A New Orleans B&B; 2216 Esplanade Avenue

I have always wondered about what the tour bus drivers are talking about when they pause across the street from La Belle Esplanade.  Now, I have the inside scoop.

Two lovely young ladies from Little Rock, Arkansas drove down to spend a New Orleans weekend.  It was their first time in our fair city and, after walking about the French Quarter and hearing their host tell them about the various neighborhoods outside the Quarter, they decided to take a bus tour yesterday courtesy of Cajun Encounters.  They took the "City and Cemetery" tour.

Imagine their surprise when their bus headed up Esplanade Avenue, where they had spent the previous night.  Imagine their surprise when the driver paused in the 2200 block of Esplanade Avenue and pointed out "his two favorite houses," one of which was none other than La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast, the headquarters for their New Orleans adventure.   According to their report, the driver, who stopped in front of every interesting building, spent an extra long time in Esplanade Avenue's 2200 block.  

While he expressed his admiration of La Belle Esplanade's vibrant color scheme, he did take time to extol the beauty of her sister at 2212.

A beautiful neighbor; 2212 Esplanade Avenue

Our visitors from Little Rock knew a little more backstory than the tour guide.  They had been given a brief introduction to these properties' history the afternoon before.  2212, 2216, and 2222 Esplanade Avenue were all built in the 1890s by cotton broker Julius Weis as investment properties.  All three are constructed in different styles, unlike other row houses built on speculation.  If you look closely, you can see the same features used in all three in re-imagined ways.

2222 Esplanade Avenue:

The grand apartments at 2222 Esplanade Avenue

These fraternal architectural triplets are laid out on narrow wedges of land that follow the plot lines of Bayou Road, the oldest street in New Orleans, not Esplanade Avenue.  They are separated by narrow alleys that make a unique, antique urban oasis, exemplified by the shared garden in back.

2212 is a private residence.  2216 is La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.  2222 is home to four beautiful apartments.  If you want to know what life is like in New Orleans, no matter how long your commitment to a particular address, this NOLA bed and breakfast is the perfect way to experience what it is like to live here.  It is magic, pure and simple.

How did they feel about having their home away from home featured on a paid tour?  "It only confirmed that we are staying someplace special,"  Emily told me over a breakfast plate of alligator and biscuits.  Lindsay agreed as she bit into the sculpted icing flower of her petit fours.

Good guests make good company.  We are glad this weekend's guests enjoyed their stay and we hope they drive safely back to Little Rock with only fond memories from their brief sojourn in the City Care Forgot.

2212 and 2216 Esplanade Avenue before La Belle Esplanade got its fresh coat of paint

There is something cheerful about a bright orange house with deep blue shutters in which every room is a different color.

A votre sante.

Treme Bicentennial

The corner of Gov. Nicholls and Henriette de Lille Streets

The Treme neighborhood is celebrating its 200th year in October.  Check out the official website for events running from October 16 to October 21, 2012.  

La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast is located within the Greater Treme neighborhood.  Since I wanted to write about historic Treme today, I took a stroll down Bayou Road, the oldest street in New Orleans that runs directly in front of the inn.  Yes, our address is 2216 Esplanade Avenue, but the addresses opposite us are on Bayou Road.  It is complicated, like many things here are at first introduction.

Looking back at where Barracks Street splits from Bayou Road; those are banana trees

A house in the Barracks Street Square

After Bayou Road crosses N. Claiborne Avenue it becomes Governor Nicholls Street.  Though they run parallel to Esplanade Avenue, few visitors travel these parts.  As a very old part of the city, this route is thick with historic details.  As I was taking these pictures, I was trailing a group on a bicycle tour.

My favorite house on Bayou Road

My favorite house on Gov. Nicholls Street; look at that lean

This neighborhood is not gentrified.  It is inhabited by people whose families have lived here for generations.  Treme has its own culture.

New Orleans African-American Museum in Treme

The African-American Museum building and grounds

Esplanade Avenue is one of the most picturesque streets in New Orleans, but Governor Nicholls Street and Bayou Road have their own charms.  Treme is one of the things that make New Orleans a magical place, not only for tourists but for the people who live here.  Treme doesn't exist to attract tourism dollars.  It thrives because home is where the heart is.

Front door inspired by the New Orleans Water Meter cover

Tomb of the Unknown Slave on the side of St. Augustine Church

If you will be staying in the area on October 21, you'll be able to witness an event that will be the first of its kind: The United Second Line.  I count 13 Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs marching. It starts at 11:00 AM at 1210 Gov. Nicholls Street.  Scroll to the bottom of this link to count for yourself.  I don't know for sure, but I believe that is the address pictured in the first photo which is the location of St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, the oldest African-American Catholic congregation.

If you don't know what a second line is, you may want to stop by the Backstreet Cultural Museum located across the street from St. Augustine.  When we came to New Orleans our first time, we spent two hours here learning about something we had no idea existed.  

Nowadays, we join every second line we come across in our travels around town.  No matter what we are doing when we are at home, as soon as we hear a brass band in the neighborhood, we are out the front door to march and dance in the street.  Nowadays, we are the proud custodians of a Mardi Gras Indian suit, something that gives us daily pleasure. 

The opposite corner of Henriette de Lille Street

No matter when you visit New Orleans, you will encounter a surprising adventure.  Maybe, like us, you will move here in order to have adventures every day.  By the way, my stroll to take these pictures was a little over a quarter mile.  If I had continued another block, I would have been at the edge of the French Quarter.  I had business in Faubourg Marigny, a different kind of neighborhood altogether, instead.

If you are going to be in New Orleans during the celebration of Treme's bicentennial, you know where you can stay.  It's the most colorful house on Esplanade Avenue.

A votre sante.

Where to stay in New Orleans

Canal Street, New Orleans or Any City, USA?

If you are going to visit the great city of New Orleans, you have a number of hotel options to choose from.  You can stay at the Marriot, the Sheridan, the Quality Inn, or the Hampton Inn and Suites by the Convention Center.  You can stay at the Intercontinental Hotel or the Omni Hotel.  These are all established brands with global reputations to uphold.  Like a visit to Olive Garden, or Appleby's, or TGIFriday's, or McDonald's, you pay your money and you get what you expect.  Enjoy your stay.

Interestingly, while New Orleans does have a few McDonald's franchises, this city that lives and thrives by its taste buds does not have one Olive Garden, Appleby's or TGIFridays outlet within its boundaries.  Big hotels managed by the big conglomerates rise over Canal Street and Poydras Street and Convention Center Blvd (was any street ever so appropriately named?).  Somebody has to satisfy the overwhelming demand for lodging.

There is an alternative.  Rather than plunking down good money to check in to a nondescript box at one of the hotels featured above, you can invest your stay in the community.  A New Orleans bed and breakfast inn is an extraordinary thing quite distinct from the corporate chains.  It is owner-operated, managed by the same persons who decorated and maintain the suites.

You can stay on the impersonal 13th floor at Harrah's, or you can stay at La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.  Your stay will make you smile.

The smile on our first guest's face says it all

Built in the 1890s, La Belle Esplanade is designed to satisfy the test of time.  No corporate architect was hired to provide minimal profitable square footage at maximum density stacked one floor atop the other.  Instead, a livable two-story edifice was divided into five accommodating suites to serve as a headquarters for your New Orleans adventure.

The big chain hotels offer decor that is bought in bulk without reference to its location.  A room in the New Orleans Marriott will be very much like a room in the Oklahoma City Marriot, or the St. Louis Marriott, or the Marriott in Groton, Conn.  No two rooms in a New Orleans B&B are alike.

You can stay in Les Fleurs Suite...

Click the picture to learn more about La Belle Esplanade

Every room is a different color.  Take a look at the bedroom of La Pelican Suite...

Click the picture to check availability

Every room is furnished with period antiques from when the manor was built.  It is also sprinkled with original artwork, stories, and hospitality that is more than off-the-rack.

La France Suite...

At twilight, we all say, "Vive la Nouvelle Orleans!"

Two more suites will be available in the near future: the Clio Suite and Les Saintes Suite.  Beautiful rooms are not these suites' only attraction.  They also have balconies.

La France Suite balcony at sunset

Of course, there is a garden in back...

The fountain provides just the right note of tranquility

There are plenty of bed and breakfast options in New Orleans that offer more than the high rise towers do to deliver a unique experience.  A New Orleans innkeeper gets into the business to make a living, but he or she also does it to share the best aspects of this magical city we call home.  New Orleans innkeepers live in New Orleans and they answer to nobody else but their guests, their neighbors, and their impeccable sense of taste.

To learn more: Professional Innkeepers Association of New Orleans (PIANO).

A votre sante.

New Orleans Small Business Attorney

Atty. Andrew Legrand

La Belle Esplanade, LLC would like to give accolades to its attorney.  He is Andrew Legrand.  He is a nice guy, and a smart guy, a recent graduate of Loyola University here in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He was born and raised in Metarie.  He is new to the attorney business, focussing his attention on small business law.  His eyes light up at the thought of reviewing contracts.  That is the kind of attorney a small business owner wants.

Atty. Legrand is professional.  He performs his due diligence.  When he offers his professional counsel, he does it after he has done his homework.  If he is unsure about a detail, he researches it.  When he has exhausted a subject, he shares his discoveries.

Our first meetings were conducted at our dining room table.  Atty. Legrand was not there just to enjoy our hospitality.  He was there to learn our needs and how he could assist.  Since our introduction, we have met and corresponded with him many times and resolved more than he probably anticipated, but he has always satisfied our expectations with professional aplomb.

After helping us successfully navigate the thicket of paperwork that accompanies opening a new business in Louisiana, and, more specifically, in the City of New Orleans, Atty. Legrand recently stopped by La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast to check on our progress.  

Our dining room

He stayed for over an hour, taking the full tour and sitting in the dining room for some locally roasted coffee with chicory.  We talked about our business and his business.  Unlike your humble author, Atty. Legrand embraces technology and the advantages it brings.  His insight into modern business practices and opportunities has made us think twice about how we do things.  An interesting development in his legal practice:  he is very involved in the licensing process as it effects food trucks in New Orleans.  He has a number of food truck clients and he is working with City Hall to rewrite statutes that haven’t been looked at since the 1950s.  

La Belle Esplanade feels privileged to have Atty. Legrand on its team.  He is reliable, efficient, and goes above and beyond the call of a professional relationship.  He calls himself a virtual lawyer for small businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs.  He is a real lawyer, not a virtual one.  He is a personable attorney, not a database.  He is following a business model of his own invention, and it seems to be serving him well.  While he keeps his office online, he is always happy to stop by and see things with his own eyes before making a recommendation.  That’s good service, and that is not the kind of service we have ever received from other attorneys.  He is a man in the field.  

Atty. Legrand has served us well, and he continues to do so.  We expect to keep him on retainer for many years to come, until one of us retires.  He has many productive years ahead of him, and we look forward to taking advantage of his services for as long as he practices.  Learn more about Atty. Legrand here.

I did mention that he stopped by recently, didn't I?  Here are his thoughts on the visit.