Hello again! So, it's been a while since I've been paranormally inspired to write here. Sorry about that. I'll try to delve into the world of the strange and scary more often for you.
The other night I dragged my husband to the French Quarter for an evening of dinner and a little Haunted History. We went to the voodoo shop across from Pat O'Brien's to meet up with the tour guide. The Tarot reader was there. They kept telling us this while we were waiting for the tour to start. On the one hand, I want to get a reading just out of curiosity. On the other hand, I don't want to know that I'm about to die on the tour (which I did a little inside). Maybe I'll just do it so I can blog about it later.
Our tour guide, Stephanie, was interesting and very enthusiastic. Now, keep in mind, while I am a believer in ghosts and hauntings, etc., I go into each experience as a skeptic. I don't want to be duped into having an experience just because I'm excited. So, we stopped at various places in the French Quarter and hear the history of the place that led to the reported paranormal activity in that area. The first stop she explained how a massive fire started when some guy was worshipping at his alter at home in the 1700's. He was apparently so engrossed in prayer that he didn't realize at first that the wind blew his curtains around and the candles set the curtains and everything else on freaking fire. He ran to the St. Louis Cathedral to ring the bells. Well, the bells had been covered in burlap so that they wouldn't disturb people during the night as they blew around with the wind. Bottom line...just about everything burned and 1800 people were killed.
Julie
There was also the story of Julie. Julie was a woman of mixed race. As was the custom in those days, Julie was the mistress of a prominent white man. They were madly in love. However, he would not marry her. While it was widely accepted to be in a relationship with persons of mixed race, marrying them was still socially forbidden. Had this man married Julie, he would have lost his business, his friends, his standing in the community...everything. But, Julie begged and pleaded and nagged him. Finally, one night he told her "If you stay on the roof naked all night and prove your love for me, I will marry you." Of course, he thought he was being clever enough to think up something so ridiculous that she would never do. Ha! Men should know that many women will literally do ANYTHING for that damn wedding ring. Julie went upstairs while her lover entertained some friends and business clients. That night was particularly cold. Yes, it does occasionally get THAT cold in New Orleans. Around dawn, Julie's lover went upstairs looking for her. When he saw that their bed had not been slept in, he remembered the challenge he gave her. Surely she would realize how utterly ridiculous that was, right? She wouldn't actually do it? Well, her lover went up to the roof. Sure enough, he found Julie's cold naked dead body by the chimney. Her lover died not long after. Julie still haunts the house and the roof. Every year on Christmas eve the police station gets calls of a woman on the roof there. Her lover haunts there, too, but he's not as "lively" as Julie's ghost. Just goes to show what lengths irrational people will go for love.
One of the other stops we made was at the LaLaurie house. Many people are afraid to even walk on the same side of the street as the LaLaurie house because of its history. I won't go into the history of the LaLaurie house since it's in a previous post. However, the current owner of the LaLaurie house is Nicolas Cage. While he has owned it for years and has been inside the house, he has never spent one night inside that house. It is currently up for sale.
We also saw the outside of the house used as the home of Lestat and Louis in the movie Interview with a Vampire. The street that it is on was piled with bodies during the Yellow Fever epidemic in New Orleans in the 1800's. What a mental picture that was.
There were many stops on the tour and there are truly too many stories to cover in one tour. I will be taking other tours in the future and will update you.
On a side note, if you are on a tour and there is a loud mouth know-it-all in your group, it's best to gang up on him and dispose of the body early on so that the rest of you can enjoy yourselves.
All in all, the Haunted History tour was interesting. Still, I expected more. I'd actually like to go inside these allegedly haunted places and not just stand outside of them and hear about them.
I look forward to posting about future tours.
For now, go in fear.
The other night I dragged my husband to the French Quarter for an evening of dinner and a little Haunted History. We went to the voodoo shop across from Pat O'Brien's to meet up with the tour guide. The Tarot reader was there. They kept telling us this while we were waiting for the tour to start. On the one hand, I want to get a reading just out of curiosity. On the other hand, I don't want to know that I'm about to die on the tour (which I did a little inside). Maybe I'll just do it so I can blog about it later.
Our tour guide, Stephanie, was interesting and very enthusiastic. Now, keep in mind, while I am a believer in ghosts and hauntings, etc., I go into each experience as a skeptic. I don't want to be duped into having an experience just because I'm excited. So, we stopped at various places in the French Quarter and hear the history of the place that led to the reported paranormal activity in that area. The first stop she explained how a massive fire started when some guy was worshipping at his alter at home in the 1700's. He was apparently so engrossed in prayer that he didn't realize at first that the wind blew his curtains around and the candles set the curtains and everything else on freaking fire. He ran to the St. Louis Cathedral to ring the bells. Well, the bells had been covered in burlap so that they wouldn't disturb people during the night as they blew around with the wind. Bottom line...just about everything burned and 1800 people were killed.
Julie
There was also the story of Julie. Julie was a woman of mixed race. As was the custom in those days, Julie was the mistress of a prominent white man. They were madly in love. However, he would not marry her. While it was widely accepted to be in a relationship with persons of mixed race, marrying them was still socially forbidden. Had this man married Julie, he would have lost his business, his friends, his standing in the community...everything. But, Julie begged and pleaded and nagged him. Finally, one night he told her "If you stay on the roof naked all night and prove your love for me, I will marry you." Of course, he thought he was being clever enough to think up something so ridiculous that she would never do. Ha! Men should know that many women will literally do ANYTHING for that damn wedding ring. Julie went upstairs while her lover entertained some friends and business clients. That night was particularly cold. Yes, it does occasionally get THAT cold in New Orleans. Around dawn, Julie's lover went upstairs looking for her. When he saw that their bed had not been slept in, he remembered the challenge he gave her. Surely she would realize how utterly ridiculous that was, right? She wouldn't actually do it? Well, her lover went up to the roof. Sure enough, he found Julie's cold naked dead body by the chimney. Her lover died not long after. Julie still haunts the house and the roof. Every year on Christmas eve the police station gets calls of a woman on the roof there. Her lover haunts there, too, but he's not as "lively" as Julie's ghost. Just goes to show what lengths irrational people will go for love.
One of the other stops we made was at the LaLaurie house. Many people are afraid to even walk on the same side of the street as the LaLaurie house because of its history. I won't go into the history of the LaLaurie house since it's in a previous post. However, the current owner of the LaLaurie house is Nicolas Cage. While he has owned it for years and has been inside the house, he has never spent one night inside that house. It is currently up for sale.
We also saw the outside of the house used as the home of Lestat and Louis in the movie Interview with a Vampire. The street that it is on was piled with bodies during the Yellow Fever epidemic in New Orleans in the 1800's. What a mental picture that was.
There were many stops on the tour and there are truly too many stories to cover in one tour. I will be taking other tours in the future and will update you.
On a side note, if you are on a tour and there is a loud mouth know-it-all in your group, it's best to gang up on him and dispose of the body early on so that the rest of you can enjoy yourselves.
All in all, the Haunted History tour was interesting. Still, I expected more. I'd actually like to go inside these allegedly haunted places and not just stand outside of them and hear about them.
I look forward to posting about future tours.
For now, go in fear.
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