USA-Canada | France Revisited

Lafayette and Washington on Place des Etats-Unis in Paris’s 16th arrondissement. Photo GLK.

My Dear General: The Relationship Between Lafayette and Washington

By Lynn H. Miller

The Marquis de Lafayette first met George Washington in Philadelphia in the summer of 1777. At 19, the marquis had left his wife and baby in France to pursue his heroic dream of helping to win America’s freedom. His reckless venture had been opposed by his family and by the Court of Louis XVI, but still he came.

From almost his first meeting with Washington, Lafayette claimed the general as the father he had never known since he was only two years old when his own father had died in battle with the English during the Seven Year’s War.


A Place Named Lafayette “Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.” The Marquis de Lafayette wrote those famous lines soon after the French-American victory at Yorktown, Va., in 1781. It was a victory that assured both the defeat of the English in the American colonies and Lafayette’s fame as a hero of the American Revolution. Read More	July 2009
Napoleon Stands Tall and Enigmatic at the National Constitution Center Philadelphia, PA – The man behind the sale of the greatest real estate deal in American history—the Louisiana Purchase—which doubled the size of the country at a cost of $15 million, or approximately four cents per acre, Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821) remains an undeniably powerful and enigmatic figure in world history. Read More	May 2009
French Cuisine in Philadelphia: Entrées, Toilettes, Crêpes, Noises, and Georges I didn’t come looking for Parisian dining when I set out to explore French restaurants in Philadelphia. I came instead to examine the ways in which chefs and restaurateurs present French cuisine in the City of Brotherly Love and to decide which I would recommend and return to given the opportunity. The round-up that follows is the fruit of extensive though not exhaustive investigation. Some will contend that I was more interested in the overall experience of French dining in Philadelphia than the cuisine itself. They would be right. Read More	February 2009
A Primer for Explorations of Franco-Philly Art and History Though it’s unlikely for a traveler to set out solely to visit French Philadelphia, every visitor to the City of Brotherly Love inevitably passes views and reminders of French culture and Franco-American relations. Read More	February 2009
Un air de Paris à Philadelphie Une collection sans pareille d'impressionnistes, une statue de Jeanne d'arc, un musée Rodin : un petit air de Paris ? Non, de Philadelphie ! Outre de nombreuses répliques de monuments français, « Philly » affiche un peu partout les traces d'une insolite présence française. Read More	January 2009
Frenchtown, New Jersey The French Revolution and an American misunderstanding combined to produce the enduring name for a charming little New Jersey town on the Delaware River, 32 miles northwest of the state capital, Trenton, and 50 miles due north of Philadelphia. Read More	January 2009