L'Hermione is completing her first stopover in La Rochelle this Monday, February 19, 2018. Leaving Rochefort, her home port, on January 30, 2018, she is about to cast off for her new great navigation in the Mediterranean. On the eve of her departure, this Wednesday, February 21, the kick-off of this new campaign called " Free Together from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean" was given by the Hermione-La Fayette Association and the International Organization of La Francophonie.
In the presence of Michaëlle Jean, Secretary General of La Francophonie, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-François Fountaine, Mayor of La Rochelle, President of the Agglomeration Community, Hervé Blanché, Mayor of Rochefort, President of the Communauté d'Agglomération Rochefort Océan, Olivier Pagezy, President of the Hermione-La Fayette Association, the ship's company unveiled the newly restored globe of La Rochelle's Francophonie, by sculptor Bruce Krebs. They also hoisted the Francophonie flag on the Hermione.
"While the Mediterranean is the sanctuary of so many lives, the daily theater of so many fractures, the Francophonie and the Hermione-La Fayette association want to launch a strong message of hope and place the historic ship under the banners of freedom, peace, respect and diversity" explains Michaëlle Jean, Secretary General of La Francophonie.
This February 21 at 8:00 am, the Freedom Frigate will set sail for Tangier at the gates of the Mediterranean, before reaching Barcelona, Sete, Toulon, Marseille, Port Vendres, Nice, Bastia, Portimão, Pasaia, Bordeaux and Rochefort next June. The first French-speaking sailors from Canada, Quebec, Mali, Senegal and Mauritius are already on board. Coming from 34 countries in the French-speaking world, they make up the crew of 350 sailors chosen for this first major stage from La Rochelle to Tangier. One of the most difficult stages, with a very capricious crossing of the Bay of Biscay in February.
"The 350 sailors who will embark are future ambassadors of the Francophonie, the Libres ensemble and the Hermione. They will bear witness to the extraordinary human adventure they will experience over four months." says Olivier Pagezy, President of the Hermione-La Fayette Association.
