The French Quarter can reek of garbage after long nights of revelry (which is what it's known for after all), but the sanitation department is very good about getting the dumpsters emptied in a very timely fashion. Unless you're standing near an over-flowing dumpster, the French Quarter smells of any other urban area with a high concentration of restaurants and bars. It smells like food and booze, and if you're lucky to be there when they're in bloom, Sweet Olive trees. Walk past St. Louis Cathedral and you'll be able to add incense to the melange. Cafe du Monde adds a fantastic aroma of cafe au lait and hot beignets. Aunt Sally's will make your mouth water - one sniff of the caramelized sugar and pecans and you'll just have to step inside for a fresh praline. The French Market smells of spicy seafood boils, ripe fruit, incense and leather goods. There are times I absolutely long for the smell of New Orleans (before the oil spill.....
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Btw, it's good to use caution anytime you're in an unfamiliar setting. Greater New Orleans is suffering from horrible crime rates, but it's easy to stay outside of the areas in question, and violent crime is rarely aimed at tourists. I was born and raised in New Orleans. I lived there for twenty years and visit quite frequently, and never once have I felt the presence of danger, or had any reason to be fearful. If you ever actually feel unsafe you need a better tourguide. Be smart - stick to populated places with well-lit streets in the French Quarter, or along St. Charles though the Garden District and Uptown - and you'll experience a city and culture of incomparable grace and loveliness, and some of the best aromas (plus food, music and friendly people) you'll ever be lucky enough to encounter.
The creepy elegance of it suits that place perfectly. The French Quarter itself reeks of booze, garbage, and much, much worse things...so you probably don't want that...
