Nov 6 - New Orleans: Shopping on Royal Street

Tuesday, November 6 was a day for shopping and visiting. The unusually damp, chilly morning didn't slow us down.

The intrepid travelers pose for the obligatory
standing-in-front-of-Jackson-Square-and-the-Cathedral
photo. It was windy on that parapet!

Fabienne had a mission: find a perfume typical of New Orleans. I asked Gloria Barbarin, my go-to person for all things New Orleans, who said she didn't know of a typical perfume. She later called back to say that Bertha's son Miles said there is a perfumery in the Quarter.

The Bourbon French Perfums company is
at 805 Royal Street. The fragrances were
a bit overwhelming for me, so I wandered
on out, but Fabienne found a delightful
fragrance.

I wandered into the Black Butterfly gift shop at 727 Royal Street. Myra Landry and her brother, Norbert, are the third generation of this 100+-year-old business. They carry knickknacks and miniatures. I was looking for a couple of plates and some miniature spoons. I scored some plates. You'll see them in the final post.

The rest of the gang was just exiting the perfume shop, so I waved at them to follow me into the Hemmerling Gallery of Southern Art at 733 Royal Street. I wanted them to see more of the Hemmerling and Hemmerling-inspired artwork they'd seen in Ponchatoula. Wouldn't you know, there was a print of a Hemmerling I'd coveted for a few years, hanging right up on the wall where I couldn't miss it. While I couldn't begin to afford the original and have never been a fan of giclée prints, I couldn't resist.

This is the painting as it graced the cover
of last year's Hemmerling calendar.
I had it framed and hanging on the wall.
Now I have the semi-real thing. :)

While we waited for the painting to be wrapped, we wandered into the Gems de France shop next door at 729 Royal Street. I bought a tablecloth guaranteed not to stain and received matching napkins as a gift from Bernard. 

Our cousins enjoyed visiting with Sonia,
the owner of the shop.

It was getting on to lunch time, so we went to Pere Antoine's Restaurant at 741 Royal Street. It advertises an "open air atmosphere" on its website. We sat at a table near the open window but soon moved to a warmer spot.

The view was interesting at Pere Antoine's,
but between the cold air and exhaust fumes . . .

Pere Antoine presented us with the only bread
pudding that didn't deserve the 5-spoon
Dobard crest rating. Chocolate and caramel syrup?
Puh-leez!
(Luckily, Lloyd was the only one to order it.)

After lunch we collected my painting and headed eastward to see more art, that of cousin Vernon Dobard.