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Wow Place #266: Napoleon House, New Orleans
All over America, there are plaques on building walls stating, “Washington slept here!” Whether or not he actually did bed down in all of these locations, it does beg the question, “Was old George sleeping around?” I mean, didn’t he have a grand home in Mount Vernon? What’s up with all these business trips and all this sleeping?
My point is, not every story about a famous person is actually true.
Take, for example, Napoleon House in New Orleans. A historic building at 500 Chartres Street in the French Quarter, it gets its name from the local legend that Napoleon was supposed to come live here after his exile. Apparently that plan – to bring Napoleon to Louisiana – was halted by the news of his death in 1821.
You have to wonder about the verity of this story. Would Napoleon really have been willing to leave Europe for a quiet old age in North America? He doesn’t seem like the type, does he? I can imagine old Bonaparte, his hand under his jacket to keep warm, sitting on the porch outside his house in the French Quarter, commanding the street musicians to “Put down that horn, Monsieur, and salute me!”
Whether or not Napoleon even entertained a trip to the US, the Napoleon House is a fabulous place to stop by on a visit to the Big Easy.
Once the home of Nicholas Girod (d. 1840), the mayor of New Orleans, the building is one of the finest private residences of the early 19th century. It housed a local grocery in the early 19th century and has been a restaurant since 1914. A three-story, brick-stuccoed structure with a dormered hip roof and cupola, the building features shallow ironwork balconies with a fairly austere style on the second floor.
The food ain’t bad either, offering a wide variety of traditional dishes like red beans and rice, gumbo, jambalaya, and muffaletta sandwiches.
More than the food or the architecture, what I adore about Napoleon House is its old-timey New Orleans atmosphere. Its splotchy, brown, wallpaper-less walls give the feeling of a once-fine residence that has seen better days. Everywhere you look are pictures of Napoleon, decaying portraits of notable citizens, and scenes from the old French Quarter. This is a place you could sit in for hours, reading a book, chatting with the bartender, soaking up the vibe and learning the old stories of New Orleans in its heyday.
Just be sure to order the joint’s signature a drink: a Pimm’s Cup. A cocktail originating from England, a Pimm’s cup features gin, a soft drink and some kind of fruit. You have to doubt that Napoleon would ever deign to drink such an unsophisticated concoction, but give it a try. You get used to it. As Napoleon once said: “Victory belongs to the most perservering.”
(One of my favorite things in the world is sitting in an atmospheric bar, café or restaurant and just letting my mind roam. As Napoleon once noted, “Imagination governs the world.” But to access your creativity and imagination, you need to create space for it. If, like most of us, you don’t have a historic location like Napoleon House nearby, you’d best set up something in your own home. Carve out a room (or a part of a room) for your creativity/mindfulness space and allow yourself to just sit there every day – for a few minutes, for an hour, whatever. Meditate there. Journal there. Do it before you even look at a screen or a device. “The best cure for the body is a quiet mind” – Napoleon Bonaparte)