City Park encompasses 1,500 lush acres at the head of Esplanade Avenuea, a broad boulevard that traces an old Choctaw Indian path from the river to the headwaters of Bayou St. John. (French artist Edgar Degas lived at 2306 Esplanade Avenue briefly in the winter of 1872-73.) Heralded by a heroic statue of Confederate general P.G.T. Beauregard, the park's main entrance leads along a gracious oak-lined allée to the art museum.