
He said it was a year after the signing of the Treaty of Paris! 1784! The American Revolution was over! Therefore, we got to hear him talk about completely new things! During his speech, he talked about his role in the American Revolution. During the Q&A, he answered questions about what he had been doing since he returned to France. This was new information to hear from him! He talked about the need to help the poor in his country, about the rumblings and need for change, and his hope to keep the monarchy, yet to institute a representative government for the people. Oh, I knew exactly which question I wanted to ask! It had everything to do with this line of talk, and reflected our government studies last year. Alas, I wasn't brave enough to raise my hand. That was okay, I was having fun listening to some of the other questions and seeing his reaction. He got some funny questions from the audience and we were all laughing and laughing. The funniest seems to reflect our school year. Someone asked if he had met Napoleon! (Napoleon has been part of our previous school year, every single week of our studies of the 19th century, and even at Chincoteague this summer.) I wonder if the man who asked the question had any idea that this actor portraying Lafayette also portrays Napoleon in Europe in his free time. The reaction of the actor was classic, but he pulled off a great answer, as always! Apparently,they did bump into each other, literally, as Napoleon had his nose stuck in a book while walking down the street. But Lafayette tells the story much better than I ever could! My son kept raising his hand to ask a question, but Lafayette never saw him.He had a lot of questions to answer!

After the Q&A, the actor stepped down from the stage for more questions and pictures. We went down and my son got a chance to ask his question. My son said he knew Lafayette did great things for our country, but what was the red medal for? It was presented to Lafayette by the King of France for his service in America. It was fascinating, listening to some of the questions and hearing the answers. I would never think of some of those questions and the answers were amazing. People who were crowded around, filtered out and we found ourselves last to be with Lafayette. (gulp) Suddenly, I could not think of anything to ask. I smiled and nodded my thanks and fled. As usual, I was too shy. My daughter later told me she had a question. Why didn't she ask him? I couldn't understand it. Ahh, our children are mirrors to our own selves.
After a stop into the Palace kitchen where the kids guessed what food items were on each plate and I drooled over chocolate pudding, we went to the Palace Garden to meet with General Lafayette and Colonel Ennis about war plans at Yorktown. (It's been a year since we officially saw Lafayette last. We have to soak this in!) As the meeting neared an end and it began to sprinkle with raindrops, queries from the audience became sparse. I dared to ask a question: What did the French soldiers think of General Lafayette, a Frenchman, wearing an American uniform? His answer matched precisely what I had read, (it's good to know the Lafayette biographies I have are on the right track)but I was wondering if he had inside information I might not be aware of. I guess not. Basically, there were other Frenchmen who fought in the Continental Army and it was not seen as treason, but as an opportunity. He named several Frenchmen and their positions in the Continental Army. Our meeting abruptly ended by a thunderstorm which lasted all of 20 minutes.
After an escape from the rain in the shoemaker's shop, we went to see the review of the troops because the rain had finally ended. To our surprise, Lafayette arrived galloping across the field on his horse! We had never seen him on his horse for this scene before. Being taken by surprise, I wasn't ready for the picture. I think the horse livens up the already terrific review of the troops scene.

Before I knew it, he galloped away. Oh no! Where's the action setting on my camera? Gotta use that with Lafayette on a horse. I couldn't remember where the setting was, so I just took the picture. It's blurry but there he goes!

It was the end of another incredible day at Colonial Williamsburg. Even though we had seen all the scenes before, each one was different from what we had seen before and we learned many new things. When I told my husband about how we didn't ask Lafayette any questions, he exclaimed, "What? You've waited a year to see him and you passed up that opportunity to ask questions?" My kids and I are now brainstorming questions and writing them in the back of my blank Colonial daybook. Now I am bugged that I didn't ask one question in particular, that reflected our government studies last year.Next time.