The replica ship, the Hermione, arrived back in France on Monday to a hero’s welcome, after an historic trans-Atlantic voyage celebrating past and present US-French relations.<br /><br /> The vessel is a copy of a French navy frigate that took troops and supplies to America in 1780 for its war of independence against Britain.<br /><br /> Also on board back then was the French aristocrat, the Marquis de Lafayette, whose support for his friend George Washington was a critical component in beating the British.<br /><br /> To the American independence movement of the time, Lafayette – whose full name was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert de Motier de Lafayette – was ‘our Marquis’.<br /><br /> On the replica’s US adventure, stops were made at key locations in revolutionary history including Yorktown, Virginia, where Lafayette and his forces played a key role in a decisive battle against the British.<br /><br /> Hermione voyage would like to say "Merci" to all the reenactors who helped bring 18th C. America to life this summer! pic.twitte
