Friday, October 5, 2007

similarities

In being given the assignment "Write about an aspect of New Orleans that interests you", I felt extremely overwhelmed. This city is literally bursting with life and with interesting things. All one has to do is walk out the front door and immediately they are confronted with interesting things. Narrowing such a search would be close to impossible. I chose therefore a topic which may be considered trite or flippant, but which is merely a last minute flop of desperation. Throughout my life, I have been extremely gifted with many life experiences which have brought me throughout the world and into many different situations, all of which have had a profound impact on my life. In the past few months, I havelived in two places which not only critically shaped my appreciation for the world, but which are extraordinarily similar in their foundations. In comparing the experiences in both New Orleans and in Paris, France, I must look at the similarities between the experiences in my mind, particularly in terms of the foundation and origin of New Orleans as a colony of France and built upon the model of Paris and then compare the two in terms of their immediate similarities in terms of my experience in both.
Founded by French trappers and missionaries in the early eighteenth century, New orleans, based upon its location on the Mississippi River, quickly became one of the most affluent cities in the South and grew to such an extent that it was considered a considerable asset to the French government, and later the Spanish government, who occupied it next. The first mayor of New orleans, Bienville, modelled the city after Une Petite Paris, or a Little Paris. The streets and buildings were laid out in such a way as to recall the magnificence of one of Europe's most austere and impressive cities while somehow maintaining its rustic colonial qualities. In a letter written by David L. Cohn, a resident of Mississippi in 1940, the writer addresses much of the city's historical qualities: "This city was founded by the French, embellished by the Spanish, fought for by the English, purchased by the Americans, and sold down the river by its own citizens. It is distinguished by superb cooking, a bad climate, excellent manners, some of the best and also some of the worst architecture in the land..."
When one enters the cramped environs of the French Quarter, one immediately imagines a European City. Although most of the older buildings in the Quarter hail from the Spanish era of occupation, there is a distinctly French feeling about their appearance and grandeur. The scale of both Paris and New Orleans buidlings is about the same and the size of sidewalks and streets are comparable. Unlike Paris, New Orleans is laid out on a grid system loosely which gives it a more modern feel than most European cities. The feeling of antiquity is everywhere in this city. The names of streets recall their French origin. Even the flag of New Orleans vaquely resembles that of France based on its three fields of red, blue and white. The fleur-de-lis remainsone of New Orleans primary symbols, despite long term ownership by the United States. Walking down the street the other day, I heard a language which sounded vaguely familiar. Being curious as to its identity, I naturally stopped and listened for a little bit. Being moderately fluent in French (Je comprend, mais je ne parle pas), I tried to make out what they were saying. If it wasn't for the English thrown in on occasion, I'm not entirely sure I would have understood what they were saying. In such a strange accent of French which rendered it completely incomprehensible, the were conversing. I realized this must be Cajun.
Cajuns are a specific group of people who arrived in the southern Louisiana area in the 18th century escaping British rule of their native Canadian homeland. This mass exodus was known as the Great Expulsion and was a result of the French and Indian War. Today, they have mostly inhabited the swamps and areas to the west of New Orleans, though their presence in the city is still known as demonstrated by my experience. Overall, despite differences in location and histories, the experience gained from living in New Orleans and in Paris are strikingly similar, partially due to my conceptions of both as French cities.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget that you are 1/4 cajun by birth. You might not know much about that part of your heritage, but now is the time to find out. It is hard to compare Parisians and their sophistication to the blood mixture of cajuns, and yes, French Canadians, but you did a "nice" (trite?) job.