Gilded Grit: Women of the Vieux Carré Walking Tour
Description
The French Quarter has always belonged to its women—painted or pious, dangerous or divine, sometimes all at once. We reveal the fiercely complex women who shaped the heart of New Orleans. Their names echo like hymns and hexes: Baroness Pontalba, Elizabeth Werlein, Madame LaLaurie, Marie Laveau, Saint Frances Cabrini, & Rose Nicaud. The Baroness de Pontalba, who stamped her initials—and her vision—into the architecture of Jackson Square. Her story is one of defiance and civic rebirth. The preservationist fire of Elizabeth Werlein - this woman's fire saved rather than destroyed. Madame LaLaurie's horrors told not through haunted legend, but the cruelty of racial violence cloaked in wealth and elegance laid bare. Marie Laveau—Voodoo Queen, healer, mystic, and more. Rose Nicaud, once-enslaved, she carved out a life selling coffee —one of the city’s first Black, female entrepreneurs. Women who didn’t just live in New Orleans. They built her, saw her broken, and resurrected her.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Brief history of New Orleans founding, the stories of Baroness Pontalba, and Rose Nicaud.
The real story of Madame & Dr. LaLaurie's horrors told not through haunted legend, but their cruelty of racial violence cloaked in wealth and elegance laid bare.
Tour will have a break at Lafitte's
Highlights
What's included
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
