In keeping with the spirit of the Marquis de Lafayette’s landing at Yorktown, Va., in 1780 bringing the good news that France would support the American revolution, French Consul General Denis Barbet told 250 attendees during Bastille Day celebrations in Buckhead July 14 that U.S.-France relations “are at a high point.”
Lafayette boarded the Hermione, the two masted frigate, at the mouth of the River Charente in the Port des Barques in France on March 10, 1780, when Gen. George Washington’s troops were in desperate need of support.
To celebrate that historic voyage, the Hermione has been authentically reconstructed and sailed this year from the same launch point in 1780 for the 27-day journey across the Atlantic bringing it to Yorktown on June 5th.
For more than a month it has been making its way up the East Coast spreading French-American goodwill and an appreciation of the craftsmanship of the original vessel. After stopping at major ports along the way, it arrived on the 14th in Castine, Me., where the original Hermione had spied on British forces. Its last stop is to be at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, before returning to France.
Mr. Barbet mentioned the goodwill that the “Hermione Voyage” has spawned, but beforehand called for a minute of silence in memory of those killed during the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper in Paris and others elsewhere in the Ile de France region during the Jan. 7 terrorist attacks as well as those killed in the mass shooting at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., on June 17.
He cited Secretary of State John Kerry’s 23 trips to Paris in the past two years for meetings with France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as proof of the close personal and official relations between the U.S. and France.
On another positive note, he said that 1 million jobs were supported last year collectively in France and the U.S. by $80 billion of cross-investment and exchange of goods.
Mr. Barbet also confirmed that this fall the 5th edition of France-Atlanta is to take place featuring events and collaborations to foster cooperation between France and the U.S. Southeast in the scientific, business, cultural, and humanitarian domains.
And he reminded the attendees that the Sustainable Innovation Forum, the business-focused side event is to be held during the annual Conference of Parties, the supreme body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Dec. 5-7 at the Stade de France in the Le Bourget area of Paris.
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