Photo credit: Janet Donovan
No precious artifacts were missing from The Residence of France that we know of after a celebration in honor of the Tricentennial of the City of New Orleans 1718 – 2018; although they could have been. “You can do whatever you want,” Ambassador Gérard Araud told his guests. “The Ambassador is leaving.” And that he did: Destination Paris. “It’s always dangerous when somebody has a residence this beautiful says ‘I’m leaving, but continue the party without me.’ It’s particularly dangerous when you say that to people from New Orleans,” said Walter Isaacson, President of the Aspen Institute,”especially sometime around 4 AM.”
Ambassador Gérard Araud
While guests were dining on lots of seafood washed down with Taittinger Champagne, they couldn’t help but notice a most attractive man in the room. Not that there weren’t others, attractive men that is, but he had that familiar look about him – you think you know him, but can’t remember how. Harry Connick, Jr. was in the room. You know – the American singer, musician and actor who has sold over 28 million albums worldwide. Yes, that one! He was in the house.
Harry Connick, Jr. with Diane Flamini
“You can TiVo that, you can’t TiVo this,” Connick told Hollywood on the Potomac when we asked why he was here instead of in Las Vegas for the debates. “This is a big deal for New Orleans….I mean, three hundred years since the city was founded. It’s going to be a big celebration and going to take a long time to prepare and this is the send off event for that and I am really honored to be here. We have a project called New Orleans Musicians Village with the Ellis Marsalis Center, so any chance I have to come and introduce myself to the people and tell them about what we are doing there in the ninth ward, I try to do. So this was a dutiful thing to do. There are a lot of heavy hitters here tonight and happy to be here for the tricentennial.”
Harry Connick, Jr. and friends
Connick is a native of New Orleans where he began performing at the age of five. He has three Grammy awards, two Emmy Awards, two Tony nominations, induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, sales of over 28 million albums. But most importantly, he has been active in the rebuilding of New Orleans.
Diane Rehm and Steve Clemons
Meanwhile, political commentator and democratic political strategist James Carville flew in from Las Vegas with his wife Mary Matalin just for the occasion. They moved to New Orleans some years ago and are enjoying the French Quarters. “We go to the French Quarter a lot,” Carville told us. “It’s great, terrific.” As regards the debate, he plans to be commentating on it later in the week.
A look at the relationship between France and New Orleans:
