L’Hermione
N°2 APRIL 2011
© photo Association Hermione-La Fayette
In 1997 a group of passionate enthusiasts set about reconstructing the frigate LÕ Hermione, on which La Fayette set sail on March 21, 1780, to help the American insurrectionists during the American war of independence. They reconstructed the boat in the old maritime arsenal exactly the same as the original and in full view of the public because most of their funds came from visits to the site and articles sold in the shop. This reconstruction lent new life to disappearing skills and trades and certain workshops and stands are open to visitors to the site. The ultimate goal is to sail across the Atlantic in the wake of La Fayette.
Chantier de lÕ Hermione ˆ la Corderie Royale
❱ Map of the isle of Ré and Oléron by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin 1757 - photo du CIM de Rochefort
La Mer à l’encre : three centuries of maritime maps The Centre International de la Mer at La Corderie Royale at Rochefort is devoting its latest exhibition to marine maps from the 16th to the 18th century. We know that these maps were used by the great and powerful but very little by sailors, who sailed without the help of maps. The whole exhibition presents a confrontation between cartographic symbolisation on the one hand and the actual practice of sailing and navigating on the other. The difference between the two could be considerable and the art of navigating was largely a matter of flair. The exhibition breaks down into three main parts : a presentation of the extraordinary cartographic production of Normandy ports (Dieppe, Honfleur, Rouen), a central part devoted to the great cartographic work Le Neptune François (1693 – 29 maps of coastlines from Norway to Gibraltar), the result of the state enterprise instigated by Colbert. Lastly, the projection of a video dramatization places visitors on the deck of a ship in the midst of a dispute between an 18th century cartographer and an anxious captain who is confronted with very real obstacles. La mer ˆ lÕ encre : the exhibition runs until December 31, 2011
La Corderie Royale - rue Jean-Baptiste Audebert - 17300 Rochefort - Tel: + 33 (0)5 46 87 01 91
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❱ 02/05/11 16:36