Comments from several celebrities appear in a new coffee table book called "Orleans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carre". Celebrities quoted include Francis Ford Coppola, Nicholas Cage, Jimmy Buffett, Emeril Lagasse, and Lenny Kravitz. Publisher profits from this book go to the French Quarter preservation. More information on the book is available at Morgana Press and "Amazon.com"
Jimmy Buffett: "The Vieux Carré was my window to the tropics before there ever was a Margaritaville song or restaurant. It was the place for all us children of the coast, who were lucky enough to see the gardens, smell the gumbo and hear the music that spoke of a larger and more interesting world beyond the path of Highway 90. I have been lucky enough to see many views of many places that are called paradise, but my first view was a banana tree in a Vieux Carré garden. I can remember that view nearly 50 years later as if it were yesterday. In a world filled with many storms and much uncertainty, the Vieux Carré was, still is and will hopefully always be a shelter from the storms."