Lagniappe - A little bit more in New OrleansTravelBY WAYNE BOWEN Observer writerSunday, April 09, 2006

'Lagniappe' (pronounced 'lan-yap') is a word you hear a lot whenyou visit the French Quarter of New Orleans in Louisiana, in theUnited States.

It means 'a little bit more' or 'something extra'. It's equivalent to theJamaican word 'Brawta' and is used the same way. So when you buysomething from a souvenir vendor in New Orleans, if you're lucky hemay throw in a little something extra, just like the vendors in resortareas sometimes do in Jamaica. It's that little piece of unexpected'freeness' - like a key-ring or candy - that's the brawta or Lagniappe.And when you get it, it usually makes your day.

A family takes a buggy tour of the French Quarterin New Orleans. The ornately balconied buildingsare similar to those found in the French WestIndies.

Just as brawta is a Jamaican patois word, Lagniappe is a Frenchpatois/Creole word. At first it seems slightly odd that they should useFrench patois words anywhere in America, but Louisiana and NewOrleans were once part of a vast French colony in the 'New World'.

New Orleans itself was established by the French Canadian navalofficer Jean Baptiste Bienville in 1718 before it was taken over by

Last updated: Sunday, April 9, 2006, 6:51 PM ESTSunday, April 9, 2006, 6:51 PM EST

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A family takes a buggy tour of the French Quarter in New Orleans. The ornately balconied buildings are similar to those found in the French West Indies

Spain and then sold to the US at a price tag of $15 million - a tradethat was dubbed 'the Louisiana Purchase'.

Though today's Louisiana retains elements of French and Spanishinfluence, it has also fused elements of African American, nativeAmerican and Euro-American cultures. This is reflected in thelanguage, architecture, food and music which all make the area, andespecially New Orleans's French Quarter, very interesting to visit. It'sa city with a distinctive quirkiness that makes it unique in the US andis pedestrian-friendly.

Walking the French Quarter is a good way to see the buildings. Somehave internal courtyards that suggest a Spanish influence and othershave wrap-around balconies similar to those found in the French WestIndies.

There's still evidence of Hurricane Katrina's passing and workmencan be seen here and there repairing buildings, restoring telephones,electricity and water. Sometimes you'll pass a building that has hugegiant hoses coming out of it to extract moulds which can pose serioushealth hazards to people. There still don't seem to be enough workersin the area to do all the restoration and cleaning work required.

Watermark lines on the house's pillar show howhigh flood waters from Hurricane Katrina rose.

Since most residents were evacuated to other parts of the US after thehurricane passed, there are many vacancies in almost every job sectorwaiting to be filled.

Books and maps have several easy-to-do self-guided walking tours ofvarious kinds which provide historical and architectural insights. Oneof the most photographed and intriguing stops is by the 'CornstalkFence Hotel'. It's a Victorian-style building with an intriguing ironfence decorated with iron corn cobs and leaves that seem to begrowing from the fence.

Located in the heart of the French Quarter, the story behind the fence,which is more than 100 years old, is somewhat romantic. The house'soriginal owner is said to have married a girl from the Iowa farmingbelt where corn was a major crop. He commissioned the fence and itspainted corn cobs so that his love could sit on the balcony, see thecorn fence every day and be reminded of home. He didn't want her tosuffer from homesickness and run away.

The Cornstalk Fence Hotel’s moulded fence makes it one of the French Quarter’s most photographed.

The Cornstalk Fence Hotel also has some literary history associatedwith it. It was home to the Judge Francois Xavier-Martin, first ChiefJustice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. He lived here in the 1800sand later wrote the first history of Louisiana.

It was also where Harriet Beecher Stowe is said to have stopped andmay even have written parts of her ground-breaking anti-slaverynovel, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'. It is believed that some of her inspirationfor the novel came from being in New Orleans and witnessingslavery's brutality first-hand.

Prior to the passage of Katrina, New Orleans was one of the top 10locations for filming in the US. Currently, producer JerryBruckheimer is filming Déjà vu - a movie starring Denzel Washingtonat locations around the city. It's the first Hollywood film to be shot inthe city since the hurricane. Given its charming appeal and nearbybays, the city has been used as the setting for several films andcontinues to inspire creative artists of all types.

Lying on the banks of the great Mississippi river, New Orleans is alsothe birthplace of modern-day best-selling novelist Ann Rice, whosescary vampire tales have also been turned into dramatic films. Someof the haunted house and voodoo tours of the city mention Rice andher work.

They also give chillingly interesting accounts of the famous voodoopriestesses said to have lived in the area. Perhaps some of the voodoopractices were brought to New Orleans by Haitian refugees of longago and handed down to their descendants who maintain the religiousrites to this day. All around are signs and invitations to buy voodootrinkets or visit voodoo ministers.

The James Bond movie Live and Let Die starring Roger Mooreplayed on the voodoo theme, pitting the secret agent against voodooworkers from New Orleans. Somehow managing to avoid beingturned into a zombie by them, Bond trails them to New Orleanswhere he witnesses one of the colourful jazz funerals that the city isfamous for.

These are lively affairs that involve processions of dancing 'mourners'celebrating to the accompaniment of an uptempo marching jazz band.Music is everywhere in this town, with street musicians being aregular sight. They play individually and in groups and usually have abucket to collect money from passers-by and those who stop to listen.

This is the birthplace of jazz, and greats like Jelly Roll Morton andLouis Armstrong were born here and are celebrated in museums andplace names. New Orleans is also a stomping ground for the NevilleBrothers whose Louisiana Cajun sound was one of the first to breaknationally for Cajun performers.

It's been said that many of Jamaica's music pioneers were brought upon the music of jazz wafting across the radio waves. This musicinspired some Jamaican musicians to produce the world-famous ska,rock-steady and reggae beats that the island is now renowned for.

The cross-fertilisation of music continues with Jamaican dancehall

artistes still being inspired by US R&B music. Some musicologistscredit early deejay music as leading to the development of today'sHip-Hop culture and Gangsta-Rap in the USA.

And while many are decrying Jamaican dancehall's negativity andsupposed lack of creativity, the music is popular worldwide and haseven spawned a new world music - 'Reggaton', which is essentiallySpanish language dancehall. This new phenomenon is starting to be aforce on music charts internationally and may even be more of a salesgiant than the Jamaican music that spawned it.

Even if you're tone-deaf, there is one delight that you'll probably lovein New Orleans and that's the food. It's musical in its subtleties andranges from Creole gumbos, New Orleans nouveau styles to Cajuncuisine. It's a bit confusing to explain, but if you like food there is awide variety to delight you no matter what it's called.

New Orleans is a sweet, eye-opening cultural mix that will fascinateand remind one of the West Indies time after time. Many of thepeople look like Caribbean people and they even have a carnival-likefestival every year called Mardi Gras where the colourful costumessometimes rival Trinidad's most spectacular bands.

This year's Mardi Gras celebrations, though much smaller than manyof the recent ones, actually marked the 150th anniversary of theactivity in Louisiana. It's been going on for a while. Plenty of thingsin New Orleans have been. It's home to the oldest apartment complexand the oldest continuously running street-car service in the USA.This is America, but with a difference.

Lots of discoveries to be made at every turn. The city of New Orleanshas even been twinned with Jamaica's Montego Bay and there areplans for annual cultural exchanges and business co-operations. Thereis no reason why both Kingston and Montego Bay couldn't be culturaland architectural marvels as well. Great interactive websites advertisethe city's offerings. Enthusiastic vendors and guides help you withoutharassing you.

The French Quarter is largely back to 'normal', but many outlyingareas of the Louisiana state are yet to be cleaned and may never berebuilt. In those areas one can still see the watermarks on buildingsindicating just how high the flood waters of Katrina rose. This waswater often deep enough to cover a car.

There's even a statue erected in New Orleans honouring Jean BaptisteBienville as the 'father of Louisiana'. Built 200 years after his death,it's possible that he might find today's cultural mix in the area asinteresting as most visitors do.

New Orleans may not be the same as it used to be before Katrina, butit's still an exciting place to visit - at least in the main tourist districtof the French Quarter. And you'll always keep coming back for theLagniappe - that little bit more that makes New Orleans unique.

wayneerrolbowen@hotmail.com

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