The Bottom of the Cup Tearoom

 732 Royal Street New Orleans Louisiana

My favorite ghost is Julie at the Bottom of the Cup Tearoom. She is very active and delightful to encounter. I had the honor of seeing her run down the stairs in front of me. She was wearing a white gown and had long dark hair. She looked like a living person, only now I realize that she moved faster than anyone alive could have. She didn't scare me at all.

According to legend, Julie lived in this house in the early 1800s. She was an octoroon, a woman of mixed background, primarily African American and Spanish. She was beautiful. She was the mistress of a wealthy man and he bought her this house.

The two of them lived here, surrounded by slaves and luxury. Julie had everything she ever wanted, except a wedding ring. In those days it was illegal for a white man to marry a black woman. Julie wanted her lover to move to France, where it was legal, but he refused. Supposedly after an argument one stormy night her lover told her "If you stay on the roof naked all night and prove your love for me, I will marry you," thinking that she would refuse. Friends of his arrived and he went down to the living room and entertained them, drinking and playing cards all night.

Julie went to the roof. She took off her clothes and climbed out of the dormer window onto the roof. It was one of those cold nights in New Orleans, when everything freezes unexpectedly.

Sometime around dawn Julie's lover returned to the upstairs bedroom he and Julie shared. Seeing the bed empty he remembered the challenge he had given Julie. He raced to the roof and found her dead by the church side chimney.

A few months later her lover was also dead, maybe of a broken heart.

Julie haunts the house and the roof of 732 Royal Street. She is seen naked dancing on the roof. Admirers throughout the years have left love letters for her in Pere Antoine's Garden, just a half block away.

I don't know how much of this story I believe, but I do know one thing, Julie is still in her house, and I suspect her lover is too. A man's ghost has been seen many times in the courtyard. He is always silent. I don't think his spirit has the energy Julie does. I think I have a photograph of his spirit in a mirror in the second floor apartment. Julie's ghost is everywhere. I find it very interesting that he showed himself very passively in a mirror.

Another spirit "lives" at 732 Royal. Henri Enge Rouge. This means "Henry Red Eye". Creoles would say "---Enge Rouge" if someone was bad. We don't know too much about him. Julie has been recorded saying his name and many people have heard her say it as well. I don't think he was her lover. His energy is very evil, malevolent. He has the pleasure of being the only ghost that has ever really scared me.

So, the next time you are in the French Quarter, pay Julie a visit. The Bottom of the Cup Tearoom is a very cool metaphysical shop, with crystals and tarot cards, and tea readings, of course. Just don't stay too late after closing. At night Julie retires to the third floor, or sometimes the roof, and Henri is free to roam the rest of the house.

Kriss

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