Publisher's Synopsis
This book, STUDY GUIDE FOR THE PROFESSIONAL TOUR GUIDE is a text designed to prepare persons to take the city tour guide license test. It is also for New Orleanians who want to know more about their city and the links between history and the names of their neighborhoods, streets, parks, and buildings.The City of New Orleans requires tour guides giving for-profit tours to pass a test on the history, culture, and tour regulations to obtain a license. The test is administered by the city on a regular basis. The license is a plastic photo ID tag to be worn when giving tours. The tag is valid for a period of two years.The STUDY GUIDE FOR THE PROFESSIONAL TOUR GUIDE includes recommended readings, important dates, and people in the city's history and culture. Basic tour guide etiquette, safety, and group management are explained. Dr. Norris' classic French Quarter walking tour is included as a learning tool and as a personal experience in touring the city. Author Dr. William C. Norris, 'Bill', tour guide and former lecturer for the Professional Tour Guiding Class at Delgado Community College taught the history of New Orleans with the same panache for storytelling he used on his famous walking tours of the French Quarter or Garden District. Bill's first book, 'DOWN IN NEW ORLEANS: True Stories of a Fabled City' is a full collection of his stories so popular with tour groups and classes. The French Quarter is a travel destination, and the stories and information in this book are the core of most any type of tour city-wide. This book introduces exciting people from the past: explorers, founders, self-seeking rogues, pirates, slaves, spies, battle seasoned military officers, pirates, politicians, and voodoo practitioners, plus philanthropists, missionaries and good people trying to do the right thing. People like Madame Pontalba who, while in France, survived a point-blank murder attempt on her life then, returned to New Orleans and built a legacy in brick and mortar. Dr. Norris' included recommended readings are a gateway for expanding into a knowledge of characters and culture that made the city legendary. Classroom training is available at Friends of the Cabildo, a nonprofit organization that supports the State of Louisiana's Cabildo Museum, and Delgado Community College. Both administer tests that are approved by the city for licensing. This city's past, people, culture, chefs, and cuisine are legendary. Savor them here.
