L'Hermione in Yorktown - Part 2, a Pictorial by Carrie Fancett Pagels

L'Hermione from Yorktown Beach at Riverwalk

L'Hermione sailed into Yorktown on Friday morning and was then moored at the dock. Many fundraisers have been taking place in both France and the United States. Admission was FREE but to get a spot you had to be there many hours ahead. When rain threatened on Friday, my husband agreed to return at the recommended 8 a.m. on Saturday to get us tickets for that morning. As you can see, cloud cover was dense. The Godspeed, from Jamestown, was also moored (in front of L'Hermione). If you will look to the left in the picture below you will see that the Godspeed is only a fraction of the size of L'Hermione, which was a warship.

L'Hermione sails and rigging against dark sky!

L'Hermione with the Godspeed in front

Closeup of the canons on L'Hermione

Look at those sails on L'Hermione!

L'Hermione had hundreds of ropes!

The sheer number of ropes and the height and width of the rigging and sails was astounding!!!

Tours were about twenty minutes, you simply circle the deck. Some of the crew were willing to answer questions. Since my husband is a boat engineer working on military vessels, it was interesting the things he asked and the answers he got. And I got to ask a question in my very rusty French when I asked a young woman why she'd volunteered--she said it was "a dream".

L'Hermione from the bow

Isn't this a GORGEOUS frigate?  I love the lion masthead, which is so impressive. By the way, that is the Coleman Bridge, AKA The Gloucester Bridge, which connects the peninsula to Gloucester, Virginia. Did you know -- The York River is one of the deepest rivers in the world. 

L'Hermione bow, masthead

Question: Is the Hermione frigate coming to your city? I hope you get to go! Read my previous post and be sure to click through to check the schedule. I highly recommend this as a family-friendly activity (at least it was for our little family!) That might even end up being our Christmas picture! A kind French family took our picture (you could hear French being spoken everywhere and some crew members couldn't speak English.) We discovered these kind people, who took our picture, are here from NATO and actually live in Hampton Roads--which only goes to show how the French-American military connection continues yet today!

The Frigate Hermione Comes to Yorktown!!! By Carrie Fancett Pagels

This Friday, the frigate Hermione makes her 2015 trip to America, departing from Rochefort, France, where the original ship was built. You can read more on the Hermione website.

You can follow the Hermione on Facebook, too.
https://www.facebook.com/hermione.voyage

And on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/hermionevoyage/
I love their boards!!!

They are also on Twitter https://twitter.com/hermionevoyage


According to what I have read, Lafayette did not sail into Yorktown during the Battle of Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution, BUT of course the French did sail in and helped turn the tide for the Americans and the HERMIONE was one of the ships. One of my Rousch ancestors, a Virginia militiaman, was there to witness it. Now I live only miles away from this historic site. I am so blessed!

The Waterman's Museum, Yorktown, Virginia

A Gala reception was held in Yorktown on May 20th to raise funds to support the Hermione expedition. Held at the Waterman's Museum in Yorktown, Virginia.

The Hermione will be stopping at multiple ports along the Eastern seaboard of the United States this summer. Some are: Mt. Vernon, Alexandria, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and more! 

Weather here in Yorktown has residents watching for Noah's ark (or maybe we're supposed to go on the frigate Hermione instead!) She's supposed to sail into port around 8 a.m. with ship tours beginning at 2 p.m.  There are also tents set up in Riverwalk for displays. Hoping to get down there in my raincoat and with my umbrella tomorrow afternoon. The Hermione will be in port all weekend, when the weather should improve. If you are a local, come on out!!!

Q:Will you have a chance to see the Hermione near where you live?