Shopping Secrets In New Orleans

The Big Easy is back. Some of its best French Quarter shops are ready for customers. Follow us on a Louisiana treasure hunt.

One well-known game show host extends a loud invitation, hollering, "Come on down!" New Orleans bellows that same request, because many of her shops, restaurants, and hotels stand ready for visitors to return and enjoy. Especially in the French Quarter, you'll find tons of fun. Jewelry and antiques. One-of-a-kind treasures and whimsical delights. World-class accommodations, food, and service. Music of all kinds. Check it out for yourself. There's plenty to do, taste, and experience. Besides, haven't you missed New Orleans?

Shopping

Where to begin? Some of the best shopping lies on Royal, Chartres, and Decatur Streets in the French Quarter. Start at 630 Royal Street, and plow into M.S. Rau Antiques (www.rauantiques.com). The gigantic antiques showroom carries everything from a painting by Claude Monet to a Tiffany & Co. flatware set. Don't miss the walking sticks that start at $1,000 and go up to $50,000.

Move on to Hové Parfumeur, Ltd. (www.hoveparfumeur.com) at 824 Royal, where you'll find the perfect fragrance. Inhale delicate aromas from French-milled, perfumed soaps, such as the popular tea olive ($7). Hove also has an excellent Web site and mail-order business.

New Orleans Silversmiths (www. neworleanssilversmiths.com) gleams brightly in its home at 600 Chartres Street. They specialize in estate jewelry but also have great corkscrews (starting at $85).

At New Orleans Crab Bag Company (606 Royal Street; www.crab bag.com), you'll find local artists' pottery and more.

Make a break for the softer side at The Quarter Stitch, 630 Chartres Street, where brightly colored yarns surround you. You'll love the Brennan's rooster needlepoint kit ($68) for a make-it-yourself memento.

Great books await at Beckham's Bookshop (228 Decatur Street), a 35-year-old spot with rare, used, and new books, many of which revolve around New Orleans. Grab some music just down the block at Louisiana Music Factory (210 Decatur Street; www.louisianamusic factory.com), the main spot for buying authentic New Orleans music, whether it be Cajun, jazz, or blues.

Lodging

Make everything easy in the Big Easy by staying in the largest hotel in the French Quarter; it also has lots of amenities. Royal Street's hotel Monteleone ([504] 523-3341) boasts 600 rooms, but the service you receive will make you feel as if you're in a boutique hotel. Enjoy comfy guest rooms, a fabulous rooftop exercise space, and the famous Carousel Piano Bar and Lounge. Rates start at $165.

If you want top-of-the-line service and amenities, check in to the venerable Windsor Court hotel (300 Gravier Street; [504] 523-6000). Its suites even include televisions that rise, with the touch of a button, from a cabinet at the foot of the bed. Rates start at $195.

Attractions

Visit the Audubon Zoo ($12 adults, $7 ages 2-12), which boasts a swamp area, great elephants, and a young rhino named Satchmo. Call 1-800-774-7394 for hours and days of operation.

Take a Gray Line tour of Oak Alley Plantation ($36 for a 4½-hour trip), or go for a ride on the Mississippi River on the steamboat Natchez (starting at $18.50).

Dining

Put on your big pants, and head for Mother's, where the best biscuits in the world await. Get the breakfast special ($7.50) with debris gravy (roast beef bits and pieces) poured on top of the biscuits. Or head to Clover Grill on Bourbon Street. They're open 24 hours on weekends.

For lunch, don't pass up Tujague's on Decatur, where their prix fixe lunch runs $17 and includes soup, salad, entrée, and dessert. Fall-off-your-fork beef brisket with Creole sauce is their specialty, and the superb gumbo has just the right bite.

Visit Laura's Candies when you're ready for something sweet. The pralines are delicious; buy a box of 12 ($16.95) so you'll have some to munch on later. And dinner? Oh, cher, head for Upperline in the Garden District. Have the Tasting Dinner of seven favorites for $38.50, which includes their famous fried green tomatoes with shrimp rémoulade, spicy shrimp with jalapeno cornbread, and pecan pie.

In the Quarter, don't miss K-PauTs Louisiana Kitchen, where chef Paul Prudhomme continues to feed the city of New Orleans with his outstanding cuisine, including his Blackened Beef Tenders with Debris Sauce ($35.95). For an old-line experience, don't miss Arnaud's, where Oysters Rockefeller ($10.95) and Shrimp Arnaud ($8.95) still reign.

Perches for Night Owls

Tipitina's at 501 Napoleon Avenue takes terrific music into the wee hours, as does the House of Blues on Decatur, both back with great lineups. For a quiet drink, you can't miss at the Monteleone Bar or the Windsor Court Bar.

Now go on back to your room, and get a little sleep. There's more shopping tomorrow and dining too. Let the good times roll. -WANDA MCKINNEY

For more information: Visit www. neworleansonline.com.

When You Go

Friday

1 Check in to Hotel Monteleone

2 Lunch at Tujague's