New Orleans is an incredible melting-pot of diverse influences : Native American, French, Spanish, Creole and Victorian. Luxurious Victorian houses in an opulent Baroque style coexist happily with the French-style elegance of the wrought-iron balconies of the Garden District, with jazz every present jazz in the background. New Orleans is the birthplace of this rhythmic and lively music, and is at once affluent, luxurious, subdued and romantic.