La Dauphine B&B, New Orleans

06/13/2026

News to me.

The Third Ward Moon Festival lineup has landed 🌙

Join us Friday, Aug. 7, through Sunday, Aug. 9, for three days of live music, dance, visual art, wellness experiences — and the out-of-this-world Museum of the Moon floating sculpture above Catalano Square 🤩 🎶 🌗

Let's get lunar by exploring the daily lineup below:

Friday, Aug. 7: The festival opens with a bang! ✨
🎤 Special performances by and a medley of moon-themed songs from
👠 A moving fashion presentation with lunar-inspired looks from with ambiance from
💃 Performances by , and will keep the energy flowing throughout the night

Saturday, Aug. 8: Celebrate the Historic Third Ward's creativity and cultural roots ✨
💫 Bring the kiddos for Cosmic Kids Morning, featuring music from 's Dori Zori and glow-in-the-dark painting led by artists and Louie Brewer
🌷 Watch live chalk art being created along Broadway
🩰 Enjoy a mini-lesson and pop-up performance by , as well as music by performers Sarah Sheehan and Kevin Shortall
🎶 Dance into the evening with a set by DJ Ku Mays, a performance by Panadanza Dance Company and an electrifying show by Milwaukee-favorite

Sunday, August 9: Your Sunday Reset ✨
🔮 Shop local vendors and artisans at a mini market: Relaxing chair massages from , floral trucks and , permanent jewelry and fine line tattoos, libations and more from , tarot from , plus tintypes by
🎺 Live performances throughout the day will include smooth jazz trumpet artist Nathan Mayfield and the Marcya Danielle Trio. The evening features the Will Carter Jazz Quartet, and a rousing set by Mama Digdown's Brass Band

What are you most excited for? Let us know 🌙 ✨

For more details on the lineup, click the link below to learn more 🔗
https://buff.ly/zlzAvEc

📸:

05/28/2026

Yes. Very true about my neighborhood.

“I read it on the plane returning from Los Angeles. It doesn’t take long, but it’s inspiring. I told Ray that it was just a tease. I wanted to learn more. And he wrote with a bit of sarcasm (or so I imagine) , “My memoir is done. That’s it. Take it or leave it.”

Here’s how you take it.

Note about the Marigny: Where Bohemia Meets Old-World Charm

Just beyond the French Quarter, the Faubourg Marigny unfurls like one of New Orleans’ best-kept secrets—a neighborhood where time loosens its grip and the city’s creative soul comes out to play. Rows of brightly painted Creole cottages, each with its own personality, and leafy streets are where musicians, artists, and long-time locals mingle as naturally as the Mississippi’s bend.
This is the home of Frenchmen Street, where live music pours out of every doorway and the night feels endlessly young. Jazz, blues, brass—it’s all right there on the sidewalks, effortless and alive. By day, the Marigny hums with easygoing cafés, quirky boutiques, and that unmistakable New Orleans warmth that makes even visitors feel like they belong.
The Marigny is bohemian but grounded, historic yet delightfully unpolished—a neighborhood with soul. It’s one of those rare places where you can feel the city breathing around you, inviting you in. As I said earlier, Ray knows good property.”

Thank you again, Adrian! 🙏🙏⚜️⚜️🥰🥰❤️❤️

04/04/2026

From someone living elsewhere, longing for New Orleans. A heartful love poem to New Orleans:
My heart yearns for the only city that has ever felt like home for me. I’m not sure what else to even say. It’s easy to fall in love with it. You can’t help but let it charm you. The music gets stuck in your head, like an old song. The food soothes your soul whenever weary. And the people….the people enrich your entire life. They make the city even more wonderful. We commiserate together. We celebrate together. We dance freely and protect one another fiercely. When at our lowest, we’re at our best. It’s a cruel dichotomy, the way New Orleans shines brightest in the dark. But that’s what it does. I am who I am because of what that place made me. It birthed my spirit. Influenced the way I create. It showed me love when I had none left. Healed me when broken. Welcomed me when I had nowhere, nothing.
Whenever anybody asks, I tell them, proudly, I’m from New Orleans.

02/21/2026

Me and the Danes Gras. 🇩🇰

01/28/2026

Our friends are coming from Detroit to spend a week with us. They haven’t visited New Orleans in seven years. Douglas used to own and manage the Creole Inn bed and breakfast  a couple blocks away. They are both now retired in Detroit, he and Timothy.  They want to be here for the Krewe du Vieux parade this weekend. We look forward to a nice visit.  Great seeing them again and spending time with them. 

12/28/2025

Why I self-published….
I wanted to frame my life the way that I viewed it— speaking to what I wanted out of life, how I formulated my life choices, my view of life, my philosophy of life, to paint a picture of different periods of my life that were integral to the person I would come to be.
I self-published so that I would have complete control. I wanted my words, my outlook, my framework, my book cover— and no elongating of segments to lengthen the book— to make it 300-400 pages or more, instead of the 156 pages as it is.
It’s really the highlights of my life— the interesting parts. No need to bore the reader with “filler.”
I had the beginning about how I viewed life, and my approach. Then, a summary of my military life while in Germany. The really interesting and exciting part as a young student on my own in Paris. My move to San Francisco after college with my career and corporate life at AT&T.
And, finally, coming full circle back to my roots in New Orleans, and what that has meant to me.
I thought it best to leave out others’ personalities, intricacies of relationships, and “the blame game.”
I was just writing about me.
Then, in the “Anecdotes” (not to be missed) at the end, there’s so much insight and background. Really good stuff. Seriously. It makes it all gel together beautifully.
Kim said it was his favorite part when he read the book for a second time.
I love that part too.
It pulls it all together.
What’s in the future?
I may work on publishing my travel articles from years past. There are a lot of stories there. Some, really, incredibly interesting.

10/24/2025

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From Paris to the Marigny: A Memoir by Ray Ruiz
In From Paris to the Marigny, author Ray Ruiz invites readers on a journey through decades of transatlantic discovery — from the cobbled cafés of 1960s Paris to the colorful streets of New Orleans’ Marigny. Infused with European elegance and New Orleans warmth, this memoir is both a celebration of culture and a meditation on how place shapes the soul.
Raised in New Orleans and educated at the Sorbonne, Ray vividly captures the lessons he learned in Paris about savoring life — that conversation matters, and that happiness resides in the shared rhythm of friendship, art, and love. His memoir spans a life lived deliberately: from curating art in San Francisco and a career at AT&T, to creating a home with his husband in the Marigny, where they continue to host travelers seeking authenticity and community.
From Paris to the Marigny is a lyrical exploration of what it means to belong — in spirit, in culture, and in love — by a writer whose life bridges the Atlantic as gracefully as his prose.

Synopsis
From Paris to the Marigny traces the life of a New Orleanian who fell in love with Europe — and with life itself. As a young man in Paris during the 1960s, Ray discovered a philosophy rooted in beauty, conversation, and meaning over materialism. That revelation became the compass for his life, guiding him through creative pursuits in San Francisco and ultimately back to New Orleans. In his Marigny home, surrounded by jazz, architecture, and enduring love, Ray writes with nostalgic grace about a life spent chasing not success, but depth. His story is a love letter to two cities — Paris and New Orleans — and to the way their spirits can teach us to live fully.

10/16/2025

My Memoir is available on Amazon. Hard cover and ebook are available. Paperback version is coming in a day or two. 🥰🥰🥰 ⚜️🎈🎈

09/18/2024

Friends, friends, friends…. make the world go ‘round.❤️❤️ Friends are where it’s at! 🎈🎈🎈❤️❤️🇩🇰🇫🇷🇺🇸 🇬🇧