I see London, I see France…
I See America by Sheer Happenstance
I am coming to you from France this July—and somehow, America keeps showing up.
You may think France is an odd place to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. I didn’t leave the United States until after Independence Day, but what I can confirm is this: the USA isn’t the only country celebrating the USA.
Celebrating 250 Years
A poster in Paris celebrating 250 years of French-American Friendship & Freedom
My family and I had a wedding to attend in Greece, so we decided to do a little country-hopping along the way. We have visited the beautiful island of Chios, Greece, many times, and it has become our home away from home when we aren’t in the United States.
With Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, and France on the itinerary, we expected to feel far from home.
Instead, we kept finding America.
We found it in museum galleries and on church walls. We found it honored by plaques in historic restaurants playing American music on a loop. We found it in monuments and in stories carefully preserved by people an ocean away.
If you read May’s blog post, you’ll know we spent time in Virginia with our first offical America 250 Stop: The Historic Triangle. We followed the Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail, and humbly walked through the same battlefields where soldiers fought for—and won—American independence.
So, the name Rochambeau should ring a bell.
The French general, along with many, many others, crossed an ocean and lent critical support to America’s fight for independence. That history followed us all the way to France.
America’s Revolution, Told at Versailles
At Versailles—both a city and a palace—we purchased tickets for an America 250 virtual-reality experience without really knowing what to expect.
Let me tell you: this experience should be in every classroom in the United States.
We moved from room to room, immersing ourselves in conversations with French royalty and American patriots. We stood on the deck of a virtual ship as it was tossed through weeks of wind and rain on its journey to American shores. We watched the French decision to support the American cause unfold around us.
Then we once again walked through the battlefields of Yorktown—this time digitally.
It was not lost on us that fewer than two months earlier, we had stood on those actual hallowed grounds in Virginia.
The experience brought the story full circle.
I wish I could show you more but cameras don’t work in VR goggles. You can read about it by visiting The Light of Liberty VR Experience, and enjoy this slide show featuring some of the exhibits at Versailles.
Le Procope
Arguably the oldest operating café in Paris, Le Procope has hosted artists, revolutionaries, dignitaries, and other notable guests since 1686. It was a favorite of Napoleon—and apparently Thomas Jefferson too. Jefferson is honored with a plaque displayed inside this glass case of history on the second floor.
But the ties between America and France did not end with the American Revolution. In Strasbourg, we happened upon a plaque honoring the American officers, noncommissioned officers, and soldiers who gave their lives to help free Alsace during World War II.
Notre Dame Church - Strasbourg, France
Inside a church in France, far from the homes and families of the men it honors,
their sacrifice is still being remembered.
We also passed the Franklin D. Roosevelt Métro station and Avenue Franklin-D.-Roosevelt near the Champs-Élysées, reminders of the American president whose leadership supported the liberation of France.
I’ll leave you with these images, which is not the New York harbor by the way, but the Seine. France gave the United States the Statue of Liberty in 1886. Three years later, American expatriates in Paris presented this smaller version to the city in honor of the centennial of the French Revolution.
It now stands on the Île aux Cygnes, proudly positioned within sight of the Eiffel Tower, facing west towards its sister.
Two monuments. Two countries. One very strong friendship.
One important point I want to highlight: the American connections we found during this trip were purely happenstance. We did not know to seek them out, but they stood out to us in the best possible way.
These are not American monuments placed in America to tell Americans about ourselves. They are French memorials preserving a shared—and valued—history.
Sometimes it takes leaving the United States to understand how deeply our story is connected to the rest of the world—and how deeply the world’s story is connected to us.
America is more than a place on a map. It is an idea of hope, a history of sacrifice, a daily practice of freedom, and a story shaped by people willing to cross oceans and risk everything for something they believe matters.
I often hear people comment and question our choices of travel within the boundaries of the US. They eagerly share their more “exotic” destinations, as though traveling farther automatically makes a journey more valuable. It doesn’t.
Travel is not about proving that one place is better than another. It is about discovering how the stories connect—and recognizing that every place we visit adds another color to our own map.
If you’re not a globetrotter but want to experience more of the world, begin with what you can discover right here at home.
Next month, I’ll share a side-by-side guide to creating your own “global” vacation within the United States—complete with remarkable American destinations that echo places found in other corners of the world.
Until then…
~Safe Travels 💙
