USA/LA: New Orleans – French Quarter
The French Quarter (also known as the Vieux Carré and Barrio Francés) of New Orleans is the main attraction of the city, with hundreds of really old, some over 300 years), buildings and spectacular colonial architecture. New Orleans was founded in 1718 as La Nouvelle-Orléans, after the French claimed Louisiana as colony in 1690. Royal crown engineers and architects designed the city, naming the central street Bourbon after the French kings. In 1763, the Spanish conquered New Orleans and then in 1788 a fire burned down 80% of the city. The Spanish quickly rebuilt it, making the buildings look a bit more like Madrid then Paris, full of Spanish architectural flavor. USA purchased Louisiana in 1804 and New Orleans became American. The Bourbon and Royal streets are the most famous of all the streets of the French Quarter, while the Jackson Square aka Place d’Armes are the most atmospheric. Still, between the rainy weather and the desolation of COVID, the entire city looked utterly empty, as if after the Resident Evil virus and monster have annihilated everything.
