Faubourg Marigny is perhaps the coolest neighborhood in New Orleans. Locals say it has the same vibe that the French Quarter had 30 years ago, before it was tarted up with tourist traps. There are hip coffee shops, good restaurants, galleries, bookstores and of course, music! Music is ubiquitous on Frenchmen Street:
- jazz bands in clubs
- buskers on the sidewalks
and in the streets.
This area was spared severe Katrina damage. It has iconic New Orleans homes with lacy ironwork balconies but is better known for its many, many 'shotgun' cottages. These are narrow one story houses with rooms laid out in a line with one room opening directly in front of another. If a shotgun was fired from the front room, the blast would pass unimpeded directly through to the back room. 'Double shotguns' are two houses sharing a common wall. These modest dwellings have been gentrified in Marigny and restored in classic New Orleans style, full of color and creativity with a Caribbean feel.
Take a little tour with me around Faubourg Marigny:
