L'Hermione Update, June 2015

[Thagarr]

On Friday, June 5'th 2015, L'Hermione arrived at Yorktown, Va. Completing the opening stage of her historic voyage which began when she was conceived over 20 years ago. She was escorted in to port by the USS Mitscher, an Arleigh Burke class US destroyer. She was also greeted by an American aircraft carrier as she arrived in US waters a couple of days before. You can find pictures of that on their blog.

L'Hermione arriving in port!

I should be used to the apathy of most of the American people by now, after all I am one and have been dealing with it for well over 40 years, but I am shocked at the relatively small turnout to greet her in Yorktown. Sure there were a lot of politicians there and a couple of other sailing vessels to great her, a few reenactors in historical period costume and there was a small crowd of people on the docks, but not near what I was expecting.

Over the past couple of days I have also tried to find as many news stories as I can about her, and aside from the local VA papers, there really hasn't been any news coverage of her arrival that I have seen in the US at all. I checked the web pages of CNN, Fox News, CBS,, ABC and NBC and found absolutely nothing. So far, the best news story in English that I have been able to find about her arrival is from the BBC on Saturday. All the other coverage I have found is in French! I am convinced that the French people, and even the rest of the world, know more about American history than the average American!

She will spend the summer traveling up the East Coast of the US, visiting some of the most important cities and ports during the American Revolution. You can find some really great pictures and follow her voyage through their blog in the original French HERE, or the Google Translated version HERE! You can find her complete itinerary HERE!

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Easterners are real clods. Here in the San Francisco Bay area we can get thousands together every year for a Pirate Festival that only has a few sloops and schooners. Btw, it's the largest one in North America.

 

[Thagarr]

She did at least get a little better reception at Mount Vernon!

 

[Timb]

I seriously thought about taking time off work to go see her, but that's a long drive from Texas. Maybe one of these days she'll make port in Houston.

As for America, unfortunately stuff like doesn't sell well on American news reports, but trust me, there's plenty of Americans that have not forgotten the history between our two countries and what this ship symbolizes.

 

[Thagarr]

I sincerely hope your right mate! Over the past couple of years I have asked a lot of people I know, and several that I didn't, if they knew who the Marque de Lafayette was, the best answer that I got was "Some French guy?" When I explained to them why I was asking, I did get "Oh, that's cool!" So I guess that is something I suppose.

I was hoping to go and see her myself, maybe even set up a meeting with some of you scallywags, but I never did get much interest from anyone on the forum. I could probably get enough time off from work, money would be more of an issue for me, but I might be able to scrape enough together. I do know that after they return to France, they are already planning her next voyage, I believe it will be to the Far East, but I forget where. Seeing her in Texas some day may be a very real possibility, that would also be a much easier trip for myself as well.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Hmm lessee. From France she would probably go through the Med and take the Suez canal. Would she then meet real pirates off Somalia? Then it would be India and the East Indies. Then China and Japan.

From there would they tour the North American left coast or just head straight for the Panama Canal? After that a trip into the Caribbean would be almost mandatory! It would seem to me that a stop at New Orleans would be natural as well. Then back to France.