Page 59 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New Orleans

UPPER FRENCH QU AR TER  57

and everyday artifacts of the
period. A gift shop occupies
the ground floor.
4 Pontalba
Buildings
St. Peter and St. Ann Sts. Map 5 D2.
v Riverfront. @ 5, 55. - =
In 1848, Baroness Micaela
Pontalba supervised the
building of these block-long
apartments flanking the
uptown and downtown sides
of Jackson Square. They were
erected for over $300,000, and
at the time they were con sidered Interior of Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré
the best and the largest
apartments of their kind. Lower Pontalba Building, but building where Faulkner wrote
At the age of 15, Micaela had in 1922, the current site was his first novel, Soldier’s Pay,
married the foppish aristocrat bought and was used for the in 1925.
Celestin Pontalba, a distant first American productions of
cousin, and moved to Paris. Eugene O’Neill’s Beyond the 7 Père Antoine
There, her father-in-law tried to Horizon and Oscar Wilde’s Lady Alley and St.
force her to sign over her entire Windermere’s Fan. It is a pretty
estate. When she refused, he building with a beguil ing Anthony’s Garden
attempted to kill her, but courtyard and fountain. Map 5 D2. v Riverfront. @ 5, 55.
succeeded only in shooting In 2011, the board of directors
off two of her fingers. decided to convert part of the This alley is named for one
She courageously separated building into an eatery due to of the city’s most beloved
from her husband in 1848 and the severe financial problems clergy men, Father Antonio de
returned to New Orleans. The faced by the theater. The Sedella (Père Antoine), who
baroness, like her father the restaurant is run by the famous served as pastor of St. Louis
philanthropist Don Andrés Dickie Brennan. Cathedral for 40 years. He was
Almonester y Rojas, was a The theater hosts an annual loved for his compassionate
developer. With plans brought season of perfor mances from ministry to the poor, whom he
back from Paris, she proceeded September to June; it is advised assiduously fed and clothed.
to build apart ments like the you call ahead if you wish to The fenced garden, once
ones she had seen in Paris. buy tickets. It also acts as a a popular dueling ground,
Architects James Gallier and head quarters during the features a great sculpture of
Henry Howard drew up the Tennessee Williams New the Sacred Heart. In the early
plans. The design of the initials Orleans Literary Festival and morning and evening, the scent
A and P (for Almonester and Writers’ Conference. of sweet olive lingers in the air.
Pontalba) in the cast-iron
railings of the galleries and
balconies is attributed to one of 6 Pirate’s Alley
the baroness’s sons, an artist. Map 5 D2. @ 5, 55.
5 Le Petit Théâtre Although it is named after the
famous pirate brothers, Jean
du Vieux Carré and Pierre Lafitte (see p19), there
is no evidence here that this
616 St. Peter St. Map 5 D2.
Tel 522-2081. @ 5, 55. Box Office: was once a pirates’ haunt or a
Open 10:30am–5:30pm Tue–Sat. slave market. Today, the alley’s
Closed public hols. & classic bohemian atmosphere
and open-air cafés are what
This small theater was the make it worth seeking out.
brainchild of a group of actors The Faulkner House, a
called the Drawing Room bookstore where the shelves
Players, who came together in are lined with William Faulkner
1916 under the management first editions as well as works
of Mrs. Oscar Nixon. Their first by other major Southern Faulkner House, a bookstore in
theater was located in the authors, is located in the Pirate’s Alley

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