St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter

For sheer pomp and glamour, you can’t beat this stunning cathedral.
Standing sentry over the French Quarter for hundreds of years, this is one building I really wish could talk!
It is surrounded by the first apartment buildings every built in this country, the Pontalba buildings, and overlooks the Quarter and the Mississippi. It’s beautiful, and I saw Ellis Marsalis perform a Christmas concert there a while back. (We left when my 2-year-old started splashing in the holy water.) The infamous Pirate’s Alley runs alongside the cathedral, and if youw alk around the back, you can see “Touchdown Jesus,” a statue of Jesus with his arms raised to the sky.
The pompous grandeur of the cathedral is tempered by the dirty street performers, artists, and psychics who set up their wares directly in front, a fascinating juxtaposition of tattered grandeur—perfect New Orleans!