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Story & Photography by Susan McKee
New Orleans Christmas
 If there’s one thing New Orleans does well, it’s celebrate. The Crescent City pulls out all the stops for Christmas – and the season stretches from November through early January. Never mind that the weather is balmy and palms outnumber pine trees, there’s a holiday spirit in the air. Balconies in the French Quarter, still green with leggy  flowering plants, are festooned with colored lights and inflatable Santas. The street musicians play holiday tunes along with jazz standards.
Alas! Getting into town is painful. The airport is unaccountably dingy and in desperate need of renovation and updating. Traffic is bumper to bumper from the airport to the French Quarter. It’s an ugly route that takes visitors past grimy industrial areas and low-rent residential neighborhoods with dozens of boarded up buildings, not to mention the ramshackle camps of the homeless, some set up under the elevated highways. Recovery from Hurricane Katrina obviously continues, but sometimes the pace seems undetectable.
Even the fabled French Quarter is showing the after effects of the storm. Sure,  the St. Louis Cathedral is magnificent, and artists have returned to the plaza in front of the 1850s church, but it seems that many of the stores have not reopened. The crowds I remembered from earlier trips to New Orleans were missing, and there were “for rent” signs everywhere, even along Bourbon Street.
The vague tinge of desperation lingering in the air doesn’t mute the city’s holiday spirit, however. Costumed “Christmas Characters” roam tourist areas, staging impromptu performances and posing for photographs. Restaurants put together over the top Reveillon menus even as hotels offer discounted Papa Noël room rates. December is a great time to visit New Orleans.
Reveillon is a Crescent City tradition, dating back to the 19th century. Originally, it was a family feast after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Now, it’s an  opportunity for area restaurants to create special meals featuring Creole cuisine updated for the 21st Century.
Two more traditions center on the iconic St. Louis Cathedral in the heart of the French Quarter. At 6 p.m. on thirteen evenings in December, there’s a fabulous concert in the Cathedral featuring local choirs and vocalists. Did I mention admission is free?
Right across the plaza, in Jackson Park is the annual carol sing. If you’re in New Orleans on December 21, don’t miss it. Last year I was one of the hundreds of visitors and residents who picked up candles and copies of Christmas songs as we filed through the wrought iron gates of the lush green park in front of the historic cathedral as darkness fell over the city (gates open at 6 p.m., and the singing begins at 7 p.m.). Leading the group sing last year was New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin plus a gaggle of city council members (politicians never can resist  performing before a crowd).
For a hint of what Christmas was like for affluent merchants in 19th century New Orleans, head to the Hermann-Grima House (http://hgghh.org). Built in 1831 in classic Federal style, it’s been restored and furnished appropriate to the period. At first a family home, it became a boarding house (run by the Christian Women’s Exchange) in the 1960s. Now, of course, it’s all fixed up and open for holiday tours at 10 and 11 a.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from Dec. 8 through Jan. 6 – with cooking demonstrations on Thursdays during December.
Now about those Christmas characters: they’ll be strolling Decatur, Royal and Chartres streets throughout the month. Representing both historic and fictional figures, they’ll strut their stuff between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays Dec. 1 through Christmas Day. My favorite, of course, is Papa Noël -- the French fur trapper who’s the traditional Louisiana Bayou version of Santa Claus.
There are two holiday home tours in New Orleans next month. The first, sponsored by the Preservation Resource Center, gives a peek into private homes in the city’s Garden District. It’s Dec. 13 and 14, with tickets available on tour dates at Trinity  Episcopal Church, 1329 Jackson Avenue.
The second, in the French Quarter, on Dec. 21, features five residences dressed for the holiday season. It’s sponsored by Patio Planters, the Social and Garden Club of the Vieux Carre (http://patioplanters.org), the same group staging that evening’s carol sing in Jackson Square.
Another holiday tradition is Celebration in the Oaks, an annual holiday lighting exhibit and festival in the City Park (http://www.celebrationintheoaks.com). Running evenings from Nov. 28 through Dec. 30, it’s a family favorite.
The Arts Market, held once a month by the Arts Council of New Orleans, is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 20 in Palmer Park (at the corner of South Claiborne and South Carrollton avenues). This is the place to shop for your one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts from one of the local and regional artists.
What’s a visit to New Orleans without stops at the iconic eateries? I started with a cup of coffee and beignets at Café du Monde (which, despite its name, has Spanish rather than French origins). At just $4, the snack is a bargain (not to mention a welcome break in an afternoon of wandering the antique shops in the French Quarter). There always are street musicians providing entertainment. I heard a guitar and violin duo presenting everything from Pachelbel's “Canon” to Gershwin’s “Summertime”.
 Of course I scheduled a breakfast at Brennan’s! Who could possibly resist sampling Bananas Foster at the place where the dessert was invented (it’s still the most popular item on the menu). I also enjoyed Chicken Bon Femme at Tujaque’s on Decatur Street and a Po’Boy hamburger at Johnny’s on St. Louis Street.
My favorite dinner, though, was at Galatoire’s. Eating here is like dining with friends and family (except that the menu is definitely Creole). More than a century old and run by the fourth generation of Galatoires, it now takes reservations for second floor dining. If you want to eat in the main dining room, it’s still first come, first serve – and, yes, the line snakes down the block most evenings (especially in December).
The holiday spirit extends to hotels, where Christmas New Orleans Style means discounted Papa Noël room rates. In the French Quarter (where else would you want to stay?) check out the Hotel Monteleone on Royal Street, with its marble and granite baths; the Bienville House on Decatur Street, or my favorite, the Cornstalk Hotel on Royal.
Just outside the French Quarter are the InterContinental New Orleans on St. Charles Avenue (which has special Gingerbread Teas during the holidays) and the JW Marriott Hotel New Orleans on Canal Street.
Brennan’s: http://www.brennansneworleans.com
Galatoire’s: http://www.galatoires.com
For more on New Orleans: http://www.NewOrleansOnline.com
For more on Christmas in New Orleans: http://christmasneworleans.com/
© November 2008 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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