A city pack for the Moonlit Atlas book

New Orleans

Iron balconies hung with Mardi Gras beads, five pastel townhouses, a trumpet on the corner and the Natchez on the river. Put this set in your Moonlit Atlas, press the brass button, and the French Quarter stands up under the moon.

The Moonlit Atlas book, closed: 8.1 × 6.7 × 2.5 in. With this pack, New Orleans is what folds flat inside it. Scroll to open it.

Press the brass button. Two torsion springs lift the lid, a gear damper keeps it slow, and three rows of the city stand up with it, upright at 90°.

Start at the water. The Natchez rides high on the Mississippi with its red paddle wheel at the stern, between a red tug and the Algiers ferry.

Up on the sidewalk: the green St. Charles streetcar on its rail, a trumpeter on the corner by the live oak, and gas lamps along the curb.

Above the street, five townhouses in coral, mint, butter, lilac and sky blue, with iron balconies on two floors and Mardi Gras beads on the rails.

Lights out. The windows, the lanterns and the Natchez's cabins glow. They glow in the dark: no batteries, no wires.

Iron lace, hung with beads

Cast-iron galleries, the lacework balconies that line streets like Royal and Bourbon, are the look of the French Quarter. Beads thrown from Mardi Gras floats end up hanging from them all over the Quarter. The middle row of this set is that street front: five townhouses, black iron on two floors, purple and green swags on the rails.

The middle row of the New Orleans set seen straight on: five townhouses in coral, mint, butter yellow, lilac and sky blue, each with black iron balconies on two floors, purple bead swags on the coral and lilac balconies, a green swag on the butter one, and a green-and-white striped awning on the mint house — The middle row, lifted off its frame and seen straight on. On the mint house's ground floor, Café du Monde's green-and-white awning.

Drag to turn the book. Tap a number for its story.

15 landmarks, from the river to the cathedral

Walk the set the way the film did, front to back. Pick a landmark to see where it stands and what the model shows.

Up close

The Quarter, on your shelf

Close-up of the galleries: coral, mint, butter, lilac and sky-blue townhouses with black iron balconies and purple and green bead swags, the striped awning, small purple, gold and green gabled houses, the live oak and the green streetcar in front — The galleries up close: black iron on two floors, bead swags on the rails, the streetcar waiting below.

The harbor plate in the cream tray: the white Natchez with its green roof deck, two black stacks and red paddle wheel, a red tug at left and the ferry at right, with the street row behind — The Natchez rides above the tray wall, red wheel at the stern, the tug and the ferry on either side.

The back row against the purple sky panel and cream moon: the pale grey bridge truss, the ribbed dome, and the white cathedral with three black spires and a bronze rider between round trees — St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson's rider at the back, the Superdome and the bridge beside them under the moon.

Already have the book?

New York off, New Orleans on

Your book came with New York. Each row clicks onto its frame with two magnets and two V-keys. Lift it straight up and it comes free.

Once New York's three rows are off, lift its harbor plate out of the tray.

Drop in the New Orleans plate: the Mississippi, with the Natchez, a red tug and the Algiers ferry.

Set the New Orleans rows on, back to front. The grooves slide over the keys and the magnets pull each row home. New York goes back on the same way whenever you want it.

What's in the New Orleans pack

The set

Three building rows and a harbor plate, finished and ready to drop into your book, with the magnets already in. No batteries: after a lamp has charged them, the windows, the lanterns and the Natchez's cabins glow brightest for 30 to 60 minutes.

Weight: about 5.6 oz 158 g
Building depth: up to 0.47 in, so the rows fold flat 12 mm

The closed Moonlit Atlas book: navy cover, cream page block and a brass button

Add-on: needs the Moonlit Atlas book

New Orleans needs a book to stand in

This pack is the city only. It stands up inside the Moonlit Atlas book, which is sold separately and comes with New York. The rows click onto the book's frames, so New Orleans swaps with New York or any other city set in seconds.

See the Moonlit Atlas book