The Red Stores, Bazaar, Vegetable, Butcher's and Cuisine Markets are also well worth a peek. You can no longer buy fresh meat at the Butcher's Market but there's a fine range of speciality shops where you can get hold of anything from Cajun spices to jewellery and alligator heads if you're so inclined. Near to the market stands the Old Mint where US coins were produced between 1840 and the Civil War and which also enjoyed a brief spell as the federal jail where bootleggers were imprisoned. Nowadays it's a mecca for jazz-lovers. It hosts an exhibition charting the history of Jazz from the musical jamming of the slave get-togethers in Congo Square through the innovations of Buddy Holde n to the modern variation of the style using old photos, actual early recordings and the instruments that once belonged to some of the city's finest jazzmen.
Spanish style townhouses, seedy sex shows and elegant, over-ground cemeteries.
Welcome to the Vieux Carr , the Old Square.