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We're back at the corner of Decatur and St. Phillip again, having
doubled back down Dutch Alley after visiting the Cuisine Market.
The Bazaar is the first of the two block-long colonnaded buildings
that most people identify with the French Market when they see
them in postcards and such. The Bazaar was a post-Civil War addition
to the Market, having been constructed in 1870. The building
was originally a private development built by Wells and Company
on city property. The company leased the building from the city
for ten years, then turned the property back to the city in 1881.
The original building was leveled by a hurricane in 1915, and
the current structure dates back to the PWA renovations of the
1930s.
The Bazaar was originally an open-air soft goods market, not unlike
what you would find in a Middle-Eastern setting. In the 1970s
renovation of the Market, the Bazaar was converted into retail
space for various boutiques and other shops. Today, there are
stores and an ice cream place in the Bazaar. The Bazaar is obviously
at its best during the day, because that's when the stores are
open. In the evenings, the Bazaar becomes sort of an isle of
calm when walking through the sea of chaos that is Decatur Street.
The lake side of Decatur Street (for those of you unfamiliar
with New Orleans geography, we refer to locations based on their
relative positions to the two bodies of water that separate the
city: the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain) is always
full of people at almost any hour of the day or night. For a
quieter walk past eight o'clock or so, cross over to the river
side of the street and walk past the Bazaar and Butcher's Market.
It's a two block reprieve from the madness.
We come now to the corner of Decatur and Dumaine. Resisting the
temptation of leaving the French Market, crossing Decatur, and
stopping in the wonderful bar of Tujague's restaurant for a cold
one, we cross over to the Butcher's Market for the final leg of
our walking tour.
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