The Rouen Armada was the highlight of the Hermione's Normandy Liberty voyage. This great maritime and popular gathering was held from June 6 to 16, 2019 and hosted 50 of the world's largest ships.
For 10 days, between 500 and 700,000 visitors per day crowded the shores of the Normandy capital. The Hermione, which was the guest of honor of the Armada, welcomed on board nearly 30,000 visitors.
" We are delighted to have joined the prestigious club of the world's greatest sailing ships. We would like to thank all our visitors for their tremendous support, and the organizing association Armada de la Liberté with its 400 volunteers. A special thanks to its president and founder, Patrick Herr, whose energy and commitment made the presence of L'Hermione in Rouen possible said Olivier Pagezy, president of the Hermione-Lafayette Association.
The frigate owes this enormous success to its volunteers at sea and on land. There are about thirty of them accompanying the sailing ship on its stopovers. This Sunday, June 16, the Hermione was the last to leave the quays of Rouen for the Grand Parade on the Seine before hundreds of thousands of spectators.
Departing on May 4, 2019, the Hermione had made its first stop in Cherbourg, before disembarking then in Dieppe, Ouistreham Riva-Bella, Saint-Nazaire, Nantes and Rives-en-Seine. With this stopover in Rouen, the replica of La Fayette's ship has received 60,000 visitors on board since her departure from Rochefort. This trip therefore fulfills all the objectives desired by the Hermione-Lafayette Association. " This trip completes our tour of France begun in 2016, in order to meet the French public and thank them for their unwavering support since the beginning of the ship's construction in 1997." said Olivier Pagezy.
The frigate will join tomorrow âeuros Monday at 11 am âeuros the port of Honfleur in Calvados (if the wind conditions allow it) for 2 days of public stopover until Wednesday 19 late morning. She will then sail to Brest, the city of Ponant, for her last stopover from June 24 to 27. Then it will return to Rochefort, its home port, on July 5 at 6:30 pm.
