"Farewell to the Madame..." Top 5 Page for this destination New Orleans Travelogue by jadedmuse

New Orleans Travel Guide: 4,878 reviews and 7,066 photos

Down the street from my house, working for KATRINA

...Requiem for a Conscience

I can no longer breathe comfortably in my own skin, as I struggle to collect my thoughts - my own personal flotsam of images and emotions set adrift in a deluge of memories.

New Orleans, New Orleans...too nuanced to convey in a single response; too fey to capture with simple words; strange and conflicting, charming and vulgar, jubilant and dangerous, excessive and at times restrained, reverent and above all, tolerant....I could go on and on with a list of colorful adjectives and never would I once come close to communicating the essence of what the city means to me and to those of us who love her.

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I visualize The Madame trapped...floating in her own watery tomb, a city once so lively, effectively abandoned...morphed into a mausoleum not unlike the ones that populate the very cemeteries for which New Orleans is so famous.

I fret that she will never recover from this abandon. I worry that the people of New Orleans - regardless of race or economic status - will wander around indefinitely, lost in a tragic disapora with nothing concrete to return to; and I agonize that this enormous human stain will somehow change the face of America, scarring us for life, marking us forever....

I am alternately ashamed at the human spectacle, and yet somehow hopeful in its aftermath. I have had people asking me "You are American - and you lived in New Orleans....what happened???

Some have asked this question and quickly followed it up with statements of "The great America, the big Superpower, abandoning its own people" and so forth....and so this question of "What happened", while valid, becomes distorted in my mind because so many times it is framed in a critical, judgmental way by outsiders. Not that being an insider makes it any easier to answer.

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Indeed, what did happen...?

Once upon a time, while Nero fiddled, Rome burned. Now, while America fights in a desert far away, the delta in our own backyard has flooded. We have been fighting in the wrong Gulf.

So to answer the question "What happened?", I will say this: The worst - and the best - happened. The most insane - and the most sublime - happened. The biggest irony - and possibly maybe even manifest destiny - happened. And yet because Life does not stop (even when it appears to), I find that it is the question of "What is happening? that becomes the relevant question.

Like I said in one of the forums last week - it will be a grass roots movement - the kind that America has grown up on - that will ultimately deliver moments of heroism and restore faith in ourselves, our brothers and sisters, and our country in general. It is the grass roots movement - the one where our fellow Americans rally at their places of worship, bringing food and clothing and offering money; meeting late into the night to conduct telethons, car washes, auctions, campaigns at every level; schoolchildren holding rallies; workers donating paychecks, people volunteering to provide medical coverage, neighbors opening their homes and offering shelter to the displaced families (and the list goes on and on) - that will ultimately deliver the help that is needed for the people in crisis.

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And so I pray that The Madame's interment is a temporary one only...just long enough for Americans to restore our faith in each other and what we are capable of doing from the ground up instead of from the top down.....and I tell myself that the qualities that I have always admired in my fellow Americans, are the very qualities I will strive to honor in this great city's temporary wake - so that her presence can continue to be more real to me than her absence.

Until we meet again, Madame New Orleans.

House of the Rising Sun

Tall buildings in background destroyed

To help with Relief Efforts and to learn more about what has actually happened in the wake of the biggest natural disaster in the history of the United States, see StormAid

"As night falls, there are still countless people stuck in their attics. If they're lucky, they have an axe or something they can use to break a hole through the roof so that they can breathe, because the water level seems to be rising instead of receding. I don't understand that."

That was Monday night in New Orleans, as reported by a newsperson on location.

Tuesday morning, I awoke to my mother crying. "The levee broke during the night. The city is flooded.

New Orleans is under water."

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All day long, fresh news reports of human suffering have been pouring in...even the reporters themselves are shaken, their voices breaking. One CNN reporter was crying. She and her crew had been out trying to make their way to families stranded on tiny slivers of rooftop, and they passed a dog wrapped in a power line, trying to escape. He was being electrocuted alive.

Human bodies were seen floating; screams could be heard from all over the place, moaning and calls for help. Some buildings were actually on fire. Images of people crouching on their rooftops started coming through, helicopters hovering overhead attempting heroic rescues; small powerboats trying to negotiate their way amidst snakes and gators, live wires and deluged tree trunks, cars and other hidden debris - dangerous territory in a desperate situation.

I kept thinking that these are scenes straight out of Dante's Inferno. I wanted to turn the television off, but I could not.

We saw one man being interviewed by a reporter who broke down while talking to him. The man said he and his family had climbed up to the attic where they huddled, not knowing what was going on. He said one moment he was holding his wife's hand, and the next moment...she was gone. He had two young sons with him. The reporter asked him what was he going to do, where was he going to go, and the man said, "I don't know. I'm lost. I'm just...lost."

The Led Zeppelin song "When the Levee Breaks" kept going through my mind:

If it keeps on rainin, levee's goin to break,
If it keeps on rainin, levee's goin to break,
When the levee breaks I'll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Lord, mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.
Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin to find your way home,
You don't know which way to go

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So many of us had gone to bed Monday night, thinking that New Orleans had been spared - it seemed Katrina had veered to the east and decreased in intensity. Even the French Quarter seemed to have survived the worst of it, from those first reports that trickled out.

But New Orleans, already below sea level, is only as good as its levees. When the levees break, all manner of catastrophe is unleashed. It is the single worst case scenario that the city can face - and this is a city accustomed to flooding. The rains have stopped...but the levees continue to break.

Further to the east, the towns of Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi are destroyed. Entire casino barges have been uprooted and re-deposited from the Mississippi River onto land. I saw a pelican sitting on top of a piece of wood...stunned. Alive, but motionless. Over 100 people so far have been reported dead in Mississippi - and that seems like a small number in relation to the images of devastation we've been seeing all day. (Neither the city of New Orleans nor the state of Louisiana is releasing death toll information yet.)

It is, as one man observed, "Our tsunami".

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What About The Animals?

Audubon Zoo

Faced with the magnitude of such human misery, it seems trivial to worry about the animals. But so often it's the animals who are among the most helpless of victims. Pets for example are not permitted into public shelters. This is why many people choose to "ride out" the storm instead of seeking shelter (in fact this was the reason David and I stayed in our house during both Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jean, with our four birds and dog) - it would be unthinkable to leave behind a beloved pet. And yet it's simply heartbreaking to see how many pets do get left behind. Some are reunited with their families; still others end up wandering the streets - frightened and alone to fend for themselves in the chaotic aftermath of the hurricane. Sometimes there just isn't a home to return to. I saw a picture of a dog floating on a piece of wood - he looked so lost and scared.

And the zoos.....the poor animals there. I'm not much of a zoo fan so this is especially hard for me. I'm wondering what has happened to the animals at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.

A story just came in from Gulfport about a marine park where the animals were simply washed away. A sea lion was found lying in a grocery store parking lot half a mile down the road from the marine park; people were pouring water over him but whether he'll survive or not remains to be seen.

With little advance notice in which to evacuate and nowhere to really go, what does become of these animals?

To help with Animal Rescue Efforts, click here
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Personal Note: Those of us who lived in Louisiana or have friends who live there, are familiar with the Baton Rouge Food Bank. They are working around the clock to provide food for the evacuees. The highest percentation of donation (among charitable organizations) goes directly to the benefitees. Their website is: Baton Rouge Food Bank

In addition to Baton Rouge, our friends in Texas are also working diligently to deliver meals to the people who have been transported to the Houston Astrodome. A great website where you can arrange for contributions toward this end is: Houston Food Bank

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There is no moral to this story, no rhyme or reason that can explain away such tragedy. But a friend of mine encouraged me to appreciate my daughter Gabrielle's smile. And I have to admit, her smile does seem that much more precious in the aftermath of such human suffering.

And the one lesson I have perhaps learned, is that under no circumstances will I stay here at home and ride out the next hurricane that comes near us in Florida.

Page Updated Feb 17, 2010
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Written Aug 8, 2004

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The Madame may be retired, but she stays busy!

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Comments (59)

kokoryko Mar 25, 2010 at 2:50 PM Report Abuse

Crabmeat Sardou, Creole bouillabaisse. . . music, old French”remains”. . . I’ll try and see that very soon; I liked your full of humour and well written page, about a city I have so many pre conceived ideas about, Michele. Very nice page.
klj&a Mar 29, 2009 at 10:11 PM Report Abuse

Great and useful information. You're a wealth of knowledge.
rcsparty Mar 23, 2009 at 5:31 AM Report Abuse

As a frequent visitor to New Orleans, appreciate the great page...Happy birthday.
RedEaredPanda Feb 24, 2009 at 9:24 PM Report Abuse

can't wait to get to New Orleans and do it all.. thank for all the excellent info, now I know about creole vs. cajun... thanks again.
TravellerMel Aug 2, 2008 at 10:38 AM Report Abuse

Ahh - the good old days when the Absinthe House was a great, dark bar. It's now a neon daiquiri bar - makes me want to cry!
leo.weeks Apr 10, 2008 at 11:56 AM Report Abuse

Mr Gabriel passed away in05 but the show goes on. Grew up in New Orleans still go to Pat O's every weekend in the city. Won't sell you the Magnum on the weekend/ if you don't have 6 sober people in your party,tried for it 7 times in the last 18 months.
jadedmuse Jul 26, 2007 at 6:32 AM Report Abuse

UptownNO: We know Pimms comes from UK. I didn't say the Pimms Cup was invented at Napolean House, I raved about how great it is there (one of their signature drinks, served famously with love by their staff). M
UptownNO Jul 25, 2007 at 8:20 PM Report Abuse

Although Napoleon House is famous for serving up some tasty Pimm's Cups, the cocktail was definitely not invented there. It's a British drink and is associated with Wimbledon just as Mint Juleps are associated with the Kentucky Derby.
Manyana Apr 27, 2007 at 1:55 AM Report Abuse

nah! havnt worked hard on my india's page though its a destination for work in my list! california is my no.1.how have u been? me tired of catching up with the last week's events! just relaxing today! (thurs &fri is the saudi weekend ) salam from Arabia
vanderlust Mar 19, 2007 at 5:09 PM Report Abuse

Thanks for your fantastic New Orleans pages. We will be visiting NOLA at the end of the month to visit Tulane. My daughter is deciding which university will recieve my retirement funds ;)