Let me start off by saying that last night’s performance at Preservation Hall was something I will hold close to my heart for the rest of my life. I’ve always wanted to go there and the chance to listen to these seasoned (and often hilarious) musicians play the jazz that originated in New Orleans was a dream come true. I got in line early for the 10:00 show and then Don met me there as soon as his show finished. It’s a small room, an intimate space in which to hear music.
It was a shared experience: the audience, the musicians, and the energy of the room with all its history. I’ve had a couple of musical experiences here in New Orleans that brought me to tears. This was one of them. If I did nothing else for the rest of the week, I would be just fine. This was everything to me.
The doors/shutters on the outside of Preservation Hall. Gorgeous. The Preservation Hall All Stars were simply brilliant. I got to shake their hands afterward.
Blessed, I am. Blessed.
More glass flowers sighted as I walked around the French Quarter. I went back to that little green cottage and an artist who happens to use the front room for his studio happened to be there and we had a nice chat. He rents that space. The longtime owners of the house had to relocate to Houston after Katrina and now are thinking of selling the cottage. He also gave me the card for the artists that created the glass flowers. I may have to contact them.
I love, almost more than anything, the conversations I have with people I run into. The young woman standing next to me in line last night was here with two of her friends – they’re from Canada – and she said that she was the one who insisted on coming to Preservation Hall. They also took part in the Halloween Parade the night before. Lovely woman.
I also stopped by Lucullus, a shop I have known about for years. They carry china and old copper pans and all sorts of vintage French cooking/kitchen items. It’s far too expensive for me, but I wanted to drink it in. I ended up having a wonderful chat with the proprietor.
And I made a second stop at Faulkner House Books, which is now my favorite – ever – bookshop. It’s small. It’s impeccably curated (and you know I don’t use that overused word very often.) It’s gorgeous inside. This shop is in a building that William Faulkner lived in at one time. In fact, he wrote his first novel there. I bought a few books the first time I discovered the shop and I couldn’t wait to go back there. I could go there every day this week and I just may do that.
This time the owner was there – a courtly gentleman who bought the building with his wife 28 years ago. As he said, they don’t have a lot of space, so they pick and choose wisely. It’s filled with fiction and non-fiction and New Orleans history and poetry and current events and biography. Let’s put it this way: if I lived nearby, I would be doing some damage to my bank account daily. Because what they do, in addition to choosing interesting books, is carry special editions of books that you can’t find in a big box store. You might be able to find them on Amazon but you’d have to know about them. I found myself wanting to buy books that I already had simply because the editions were so beautiful. You want to hold them in your hand. You want to savor every detail.
The shelves were made by a cabinet maker from cypress, I think it was, that is incredibly strong and impervious to moisture. They are stunning and they have little reading/writing surfaces that pull out – sort of like a breadboard in an old-fashioned kitchen.
There are autographed photos and bits of writing by some famous authors on the walls.
Tennessee Williams.
A testy George Bernard Shaw. (I love everything about that man.)
There’s also a signed photo of Hemingway and of Harper Lee. And more.
The Wodehouse editions were gorgeous and I bought one for Don. He is a huge Wodehouse fan.
I went back to buy this 100th anniversary edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is so beautifully done, with gold end papers and beautiful illustrations.
I could go on and on about this shop. Let’s face it – I could live there. Discovering this shop and hearing the Preservation Hall All Stars is all I need. Not surprising is it? Music and books. That’s the way it’s always been for me.
More tomorrow. Today is Don’s day off and we don’t know what we’re doing yet but we’ll have fun.
Happy Monday.
That wonderful bookstore! I get overwhelmed so easy in places such as that. I am crying over the letter from Tennessee Williams. What a treasure.
I am so glad you could go to hear the musicians at Preservation Hall. What an adventure you are having!
I watched the short clip on Facebook last night of the cast taking their bows on stage. I couldn’t stop smiling and humming the songs! Don must be in heaven!
Have fun today!
Don is having a great time, but they’re all exhausted. They rehearse for several hours and then perform the show at night. But they love doing it. They just need some rest!
Claudia, reading this makes me smile. I’m so glad you are having such a wonderful time!
Thank you, Kim!
You’ve seen and experienced some remarkable places. (Love all the Pics! ) Sounds like you are having a fantastic time, with lots of memories being made! Have fun today with Don! ;)
I am having a simply wonderful time!
Getting lost in a bookstore is such a wonderful thing. Especially bookstores as unique and special as Faulkner Books. I liked seeing the Shaw letter, as I toured his home in England over 30 years ago. In his back garden, Shaw had a writing hut built on a revolving wheel with long handles that stuck out from under the hut. As the sun moved across the sky, Shaw would revolve his hut until the light shone just right onto his writing desk inside. It was fun to see. Also fun was seeing the Oscar he won for Pygmalion. The statuettes were much shorter back then.
I’m a big Shaw fan. I used to do a one-woman show based on his work and I’ve either been a cast member or coached many of his plays.
It all sounds wonderful, Claudia. And a whole day to spend with Don today!! Happy Monday!!!!
We had a great day together.
Your NOLA trip sounds fabulous. I have been there twice. Not a bad drive from where I live in OK. We enjoyed the visits very much to say the least. Your pictures and descriptions bring it all back. I attended International Reading Association conferences both times. Huge meetings, lots of free meals, cocktail parties, concerts. I walked through the Quarter barefoot once (long story). A crowd of us…all college professors happened to pass a bar with th edoor open! A lady was lying on the bar stark naked! She waved, we waved and we went on by! So many good memories with friends! Have loads of fun,
You see EVERYTHING in the French Quarter. One thing for sure: it’s never boring!
Love love love a good bookstore and your description of this one made we want to travel to find a bookstore, any bookstore today! Wonderful posts, thank you!
Nothing better, in my opinion, than a good bookstore!
I can just hear the happiness in your ‘voice’, and I’m right there with ya.
I’ve already decided that we’ll come back here one day. I love it.
I am so enjoying your text and pictures. Thanks for sharing with us! Glad you are having a great time! Love those glass flowers!
I want some of those flowers, Dottie.
Have gone into MANY bookstores in my time – the bulk of them FAR less incredible than Faulkner House Books – intending to spend no more than an hour or so. And still often ended up staying an entire afternoon or evening. I imagine if I’d ever gone into one in the morning I would have easily spent the full day [especially these days when most of them have cafes]. So I can well imagine why you’d have wanted to spend hours there. It looks beautiful in more ways than one. Glad you’re having such a terrific vacation. Is it hard to be vegetarian in New Orleans? Are you a seafood-and/or-eggs-and/or dairy-is-OK vegetarian or a “full” one, as my Mom would say? I still get mixed up on vegan v vegetarian too. If you haven’t already done it, Claudia, maybe you could do a post on that someday for those of us who are clueless. I am finding personally the older I get the meat I tend to eat. Not really intentionally either – I just seem to be drifting that way – which is good for sure. Keep on having a blast! Peace. 🌳
#Resist
It is hard to be a vegetarian here. Though we’ve found some places that cater to Vegetarians. I eat no meat – no seafood, no fowl, no red meat. Nothing that had a face, as Paul McCartney says. And Don – though he doesn’t call himself one – has stuck to that the whole time he’s been here. Vegans are vegetarians who don’t eat dairy as well because – and this is very true – the conditions most dairy animals are kept under to supply milk, eggs, and cheese are appalling. You would feel sick to your stomach if you researched it. And their babies are ripped away from the parents almost immediately after birth. Anyway, I could go on and on. I am mostly vegan now, though I tend to stray back to dairy when I’m on the road and my options are limited.
Thanks, Claudia – for taking the time to write such a nice long comment while on your vacation. From what you wrote, I think I must be veering down the vegetarian path myself. Giving up dairy could be really difficult though – I love my Greek yogurt and unfortunately as well – ICE CREAM! I always tell people “I don’t drink [much], I’ve never smoked or done drugs, I don’t gamble or have a shopping problem or any of the other traditional vices. But I LIKES my ice cream!!” PS – have been known to spend the odd paycheck or two in a bookstore as well – haha. 🍨
I could spend far too many paychecks there! I have so many books stacked up and holding – waiting to be read! But I can’t resist new-to-me books.
The bookstore sounds amazing. I loved my visit to Preservation Hall to hear the amazing Dizzy Gillespie and that is a memory I will never forget. I have New Orleans on my list of places to visit again one of these days. So much history and such unique stores. I’m so happy you are having such a good time.
There is no place quite like it.
I am drooling over the Faulkner House Books. If I lived there you would have to pry me out with a crowbar! I would be broke on just one visit. Enjoy the books.
Marilyn
Yes, all of my money would be spent at that bookshop!
How wonderful to hear those amazing jazz men…and to meet them too!…I love the look of that room they perform in…I thought it would be much larger…Faulkner’s looks like a heaven for book lovers…with all of the books and pictures and writings to look at I would be there for hours Claudia!
It is simply the best bookshop I’ve ever been in.
Wow!
I have complete respect for that bookstore and I have never been there.
Wow!
You would love it!
I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your daily love letters to the “City that Care Forgot”. I read tonight’s with tears in my eyes.
After Katrina, people said a version of, ” it doesn’t make sense to rebuild N.O.”, and those of us who grew up there were aghast—a 300-year-old city! The birthplace and cradle of Jazz and home to one of the most unique culinary traditions in the country, with an artistic and literary legacy stretching back before time. My ancestors first set foot in south La. In 1720 and have been a part of the fabric of that place ever since. But OK, let’s talk about just doing away with it. It was quite a shock.
But every now and again a kindred spirit wanders in and recognizes that place through a conversation with a courtly bookstore owner, or perched on a seat in Preservation Hall or hears a snatch of a song out in the street, and takes the old city into her heart, and a part of the old girl is healed again.
So thank you! It matters.
Leslie P.
It stuns me that people would say that. How could they? Of course it makes sense to rebuild it! There is so much history and a kind of history and mix of ethnicities and cultural influences that can be found nowhere else. It is simply glorious. I get it now. I understand why this city is so beloved by so many.
I love GBS, too! Enjoy the rest of your time in The Big Easy!
I am having a great time, Tisha.