To honor the 250th birthday of the Marquis de La Fayette and the 63rd anniversary of the D-Day Allied Landing in Normandy, the French warship La Fayette arrived for a visit in New Orleans, Tuesday June 5, 2007.
I'm probably going to get a cease and desist for using this image from the TP but there was no way to link to the image section or the story. Go to Nola.com and check ou the photo Gallery section if you want to see more.
I posted this because I went down to the Quarter last night to see the ship (I have this thing for ships, pirates, and the sea). Later on in the night I was riding around da Quarters on my scooter...one of my new favorite things to do. The French sailors were about the only ones wandering around off Bourbon (the Quarter has been frighteningly barren of foot traffic at night).
I was driving down Decatur and as I approached Cafe Du Monde I looked down the street and it hit me....fuck. Sure enough standing on the corner of St. Philip and Decatur was a group of about 5 French sailors looking at the Joan of Arc statue the nation of France so graciously gave our city as a gift.
Good thing right? Wrong.
We haven't bothered to the light it up since the storm....we lit it during Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, and French Quarter Fest....but it sits in the dark most of the time.
It's a radiant, gold statue which brings Decatur street to life at night when it's lit, but we haven't bothered to keep it that way since the storm. How fucking stupid can we be? How insulting can we be? I'm sure the French sailors were wondering why the hell we hadn't bothered to light it. Not to mention, we are flying an American Flag and a French Flag at the statue at night....unlit....isn't that a faux pas unto itself?
We can take 12 million dollar loans out to pay Benetech to renovate the French Market but we don't know how to flip a fucking light switch? I would love an answer to this question....and I hope....I bet....it's going to be that "We can't afford to light it." At which point I want to see what the Entergy bill is to actually light it.
If there is anyone out there in tourism who reads this...Steve Perry...anyone ...I implore you to call the Mayor's office and tell them to "TURN THE GODDAM LIGHTS ON THAT STATUE....NOW!!!!"
We are insulting the nation of our own heritage. I will personally go unscrew the lights at the Churchill statue (nothing against WC or GB) at the Hilton/Riverwalk and put them on the Joan of Arc statue if we don't have anyone on staff to do it. I mean it's bad enough to leave them turned off ...but if the city knew we were hosting the La Fayette and it's crew....what the fuck? They're docked 500 yards from the fucking statue...is there anyone in city hall that doesn't have their head up their ass?
I'm gonna go to Home Depot tonight, buy some work lights and run a frikkin' extension cord from Molly's or MRB's.
9 comments:
Maybe we bloggers could go down there in turns and aim flashlights at it.
That would at least send a message to the crew of the ship that we respect it. Once again....it's left up to us.
My husband is hoping and praying that the French Navy guys in the Quarter are a spearhead of an invasion force. He is planning to beg them to invade and as Ashley's always saying, take us back. He thinks today would be a good day for it, it being D-Day. His hope is that he'll be seeing a giant flotilla of French warships cruising the Mississippi, embargoing the port and removing New Orleans from the upper 48. Hey, a guy has to have a dream!
BTW he says Joanie is lit up weekends only from what he's seen. He's never heard why not the rest of the time.
I think we should reverse the flags and put the inverted American flag on the lower left, and sing the Marseillaise,
I've been playing with the lyrics in BabelFish and have changed the chorus to:
Aux armes, citoyens !
Formez vos bataillons !
Marchons, marchons.
Construisons avec les crânes
levées blindées fortes
The last two lines now read "let us build with their skulls strong, armored levees.
Get one of the many film production companies making their way in these parts to donate some lighting. Barring that, I can bring my Hummer flashlight, which doesn't need conventional batteries, but we would have to shake the thing for thirty seconds every five minutes for it to work...
I fully understand that it is an insult not to have the lights on when the French Navy are here, but a French Invasion? Come on, why don't you move to Vermont?
St. Joan's statue has been lit up in the recent past. I get down that way often.
We also light the statue with candles every year for the Trans Day of Remembrance.
please do give us an update as to what happens with the lights.
Oh, thank you for this post.
The slight shadowed area by that (unlit) statue was where I recieved a surprising and memorable kiss.
You know how the memory of some kisses can stick with you and warm you many years and many lovers later?
Somehow I don't think the French would be upset or insulted by the thought that their gift to the city was displayed in a way that let someone pull you in close for an embrace.
Who wants to kiss under the dyspepsic glower of Winston Churchill?
Lights on or lights off, respecting the soulfulness of a place or a people is what matters.
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