The room where Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette stayed for ten days in 1784 during a visit to Virginia at Mount Vernon, the estate of his great friend George Washington located near the federal capital, was restored and unveiled in the presence of the French Ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne.

"Having played a key role in the American Revolution and, later, the French Revolution, the Marquis de La Fayette is the ideal symbol of the friendship between our two countries", underlined Mr. Etienne, during a conference of hurry.

"As the values ​​he stood for all his life are under threat, particularly by the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is more important than ever for us to shine a light on this historic figure," he said. for follow-up.

The boss of the Mount Vernon estate Doug Bradburn and the French ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne, in Mount Vernon, Virginia, July 14, 2022 Brendan Smialowski AFP

A volunteer from the age of 19 in 1777 alongside American insurgents in the United States' war of independence against Great Britain, the Marquis de La Fayette is considered a hero of the American Revolution.

Assigned to the forces commanded by George Washington, La Fayette became his close friend and remained so until the end of his life, naming his only son George Washington de La Fayette.

Between historical research and work, two years were needed to restore the room as it was in 1799, the date of the death of the first American president.

Featuring a four-poster bed with white and red sheets, woven in France, the room, which is the most spacious in the residence, is decorated with a portrait of the Marquis commissioned by George Washington in 1779.

The key to the Bastille offered by the Marquis de La Fayette to President George Washington in 1790, at Mount Vernon in Virginia on July 14, 2022 Brendan Smialowski AFP

A sign of the unfailing friendship between the two men, La Fayette presented Washington in 1790 with the key to the Bastille, given to him by the French revolutionaries when he was head of the National Guard.

In wrought iron, weighing 540 grams, the key which sits enthroned in a gilded frame has thus been admired for more than 200 years by visitors to the Mount Vernon estate, as much as a tangible testimony of the Franco-American understanding as a vestige of "the fortress of despotism", in the words of the Marquis.

© 2022 AFP