The French Market
photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN
by Mimi Greenwood Knight
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I n side N ew Orl ean s
THE PANDEMIC YEAR has had more than its share of surreal moments. How many times have you stood in a grocery store surrounded by your fellow masked shoppers and thought, “Is this really happening?” My visit to the French Market in the heart of the Vieux Carré was just one more COVID reality check. Walking the space with Director of Marketing and Development Jeremy Smith, felt like visiting a movie set. There I was in the familiar cavernous pavilion. But something was missing. People. Since the pandemic forced citywide closures in March, the iconic structure has slowly reopened—first on the weekend, then adding Thursday and Friday and, by the time you read this, Monday. I was there on a Wednesday and the silence—in what has always been a bustling marketplace—was eerie. Since I was a girl, the charm of the French Market has been in the masses of people from backgrounds and traditions I knew little about. I used to love standing in one spot and listening to the languages and accents around me. Long before I traveled abroad or saw much of this country, the French Market allowed me to experience people who were different from me and mine. And I love it! The French Market was—and is—quintessentially New Orleans. But it’s much more than that. It’s people like Awa Thioubou, a Senegalese transplant who’s sold her West African clothing and
photo: ZACK SMITH PHOTOGRPAHY
200 Years of Welcoming Locals and Tourists
