Vive la France! Right
after we came back from the celebration in Frenchtown, I wrote this post. We
visit Frenchtown in St. Thomas since we didn’t do last time we anchored in the
island. Today, 14th of July, is a special day, the Bastille Day. The
French National day commemorates the French revolution in 1789 and it’s well
known as La Fête National (The National Celebration) or Le quatorze Juillet (the fourteenth of July). I studied French for
seven years, even if I barely speak the language now but it’s still interesting
for me.
In the morning we
visited Frenchtown and had breakfast in the Frenchtown Deli. The coffee there
is really good! Then we end up in the French Heritage Museum. A small museum
but it’s full of history. The building itself served for several activities
like fire station, school then museum for the French community in St. Thomas.
We were lucky to have the chance of meeting one of the French descendents still
living in St. Thomas who was the guide to our visit. Inside, the historic
photos and antique items told us the story of this Frenchtown. Originally, the
French people in St. Thomas were from Saint-Barthelemy, the island nearby in
the Caribbean Sea. Then they gradually migrated to St. Thomas and the community
became a French settlement later on. Like I mentioned in the post before that
St. Thomas was under the rule of Denmark and then after 1917 became American.
Everyone who lived on the island would become American citizen automatically, something
very similar with the Macau case in the handover in 1999 where Chinese people
would become Chinese citizens. We have a chance to exchange ideas on how to
help promoting the culture, something we consider very valuable for the next
generations. As the Macau Government emphasizes the promotion of the heritage
and culture activities, we shared what was done in the former Portuguese
territory with the heritage routes for the tourists visiting the Historic
Center of Macau by walking. However, this kind of schemes is never easy without
the support from the government like is done in Macau. The person who guided us
shared that they get some subsidies from the Government for the French Heritage
Museum but it’s not enough to promote it the way it should be done to attract the
tourists visiting St. Thomas for Duty Free Shopping. I leave you here the
website of the museum (www.frenchheritagemuseum.com), help supporting by
visiting and share it so the next generations are aware of their cultural
background.
In the evening of the
same day we returned to the settlement to celebrate the Bastille Day. We visited
St. Anne Chapel located on the hill of Frenchtown. It was hand build by the
first French settlers in St. Thomas. The French decoration, people, descendents
and atmo
sphere was attractive indeed. They had music, drinks and food for an
all night long party. We didn’t stay until late because of little Maria Dee. There
was French people walking on stilts and we enjoyed the music played by the
local people. For them we were just tourists joining their local activity, but
for us we felt a warm welcome from the community. Even a person we met during
the day offered us to do some woodwork that we need for our stove and he
offered to do it with mahogany when we were inquiring about a place where we
could do it in town. What people call “An American paradise” is not only a Caribbean
location, its everything!
Celebrating Bastille Day in Frenchtown, United States Virgin Islands
after we came back from the celebration in Frenchtown, I wrote this post. We
visit Frenchtown in St. Thomas since we didn’t do last time we anchored in the
island. Today, 14th of July, is a special day, the Bastille Day. The
French National day commemorates the French revolution in 1789 and it’s well
known as La Fête National (The National Celebration) or Le quatorze Juillet (the fourteenth of July). I studied French for
seven years, even if I barely speak the language now but it’s still interesting
for me.
visited Frenchtown and had breakfast in the Frenchtown Deli. The coffee there
is really good! Then we end up in the French Heritage Museum. A small museum
but it’s full of history. The building itself served for several activities
like fire station, school then museum for the French community in St. Thomas.
We were lucky to have the chance of meeting one of the French descendents still
living in St. Thomas who was the guide to our visit. Inside, the historic
photos and antique items told us the story of this Frenchtown. Originally, the
French people in St. Thomas were from Saint-Barthelemy, the island nearby in
the Caribbean Sea. Then they gradually migrated to St. Thomas and the community
became a French settlement later on. Like I mentioned in the post before that
St. Thomas was under the rule of Denmark and then after 1917 became American.
Everyone who lived on the island would become American citizen automatically, something
very similar with the Macau case in the handover in 1999 where Chinese people
would become Chinese citizens. We have a chance to exchange ideas on how to
help promoting the culture, something we consider very valuable for the next
generations. As the Macau Government emphasizes the promotion of the heritage
and culture activities, we shared what was done in the former Portuguese
territory with the heritage routes for the tourists visiting the Historic
Center of Macau by walking. However, this kind of schemes is never easy without
the support from the government like is done in Macau. The person who guided us
shared that they get some subsidies from the Government for the French Heritage
Museum but it’s not enough to promote it the way it should be done to attract the
tourists visiting St. Thomas for Duty Free Shopping. I leave you here the
website of the museum (www.frenchheritagemuseum.com), help supporting by
visiting and share it so the next generations are aware of their cultural
background.
same day we returned to the settlement to celebrate the Bastille Day. We visited
St. Anne Chapel located on the hill of Frenchtown. It was hand build by the
first French settlers in St. Thomas. The French decoration, people, descendents
and atmo
sphere was attractive indeed. They had music, drinks and food for an
all night long party. We didn’t stay until late because of little Maria Dee. There
was French people walking on stilts and we enjoyed the music played by the
local people. For them we were just tourists joining their local activity, but
for us we felt a warm welcome from the community. Even a person we met during
the day offered us to do some woodwork that we need for our stove and he
offered to do it with mahogany when we were inquiring about a place where we
could do it in town. What people call “An American paradise” is not only a Caribbean
location, its everything!
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