We were fortunate to tour the French Quarter guided by Don Nolan, a life-long New Orleans native, history buff, and volunteer for Friends of the Cabildo, among other local community historical organisations who preserve local history, such as "Save Our Cemeteries" and the World War II museum. He was friendly and extremely knowledgeable, distinguishing between historical fact, myths and urban legends. We learned many interesting facts about architecture, former and present residents, including the woman who first incorporated lovely cast iron railings to adorn the buildings she designed (Pontalba block), which became so popular in other buildings of the time. Don also gave us an understanding of New Orleans' role in the development of the USA and how it's people and culture have influenced history, art, food and music, etc. We very much enjoyed the tour and would have loved to have spent the day picking his brain. The fee for the tour also included a self-guided tour of 1850s House (in the Pontalba Block adjacent to Jackson Square), a home showing furnishing representative of that period with interesting information about former families who had lived in the house. There was a nice gift shop with works from local artists, craftspeople and authors. It was nice to know our fees would go toward maintaining historical sits, including the house and the Cabildo Museum.