As life in the historic French Quarter tried to return to normal, the grief and sadness among residents was acute

At the cross-street of Bourbon and Saint Phillip, a few dozen yards from the police security line around the crime scene on Thursday morning, it was almost as if nothing had happened.

Tourists meandered past the ornate old creole cottages, the bars served cold beer on tap, and horse-drawn carts traipsed through the western end of the French Quarter, in a familiar scene.