French ambassador says France will play a role in New Orleans’ future

23rd February 2016   ·   0 Comments

By David T. Baker
The Louisiana Weekly

New Orleans, LA — During his first ever visit to New Orleans, the French ambassador to the United States Gérard Araud professed his love for the city and its nearly 300 years of history, but says what most excites him is the city’s future.

During a two-day visit to Louisiana from Washington D.C., where he resides, Araud met with city and state officials to chart the ongoing successes of French immersion programs and initiatives taking place throughout the state as well as laud the growth and success of French businesses in Louisiana.

“Of course, I’m here for celebrating the past, the glorious past that we have in common,” Araud said, standing beside French Consulate General Grégor Trumel, City Council President Jason Williams and New Orleans Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu at a Feb. 22 press conference at Arnaud’s in the French Quarter. “In a sense,” Araud continued, “I’m also here for looking forward. For looking to the New Orleans of the future.”

That future, Araud hopes, will be one in which the French influence continues to grow and many more French companies invest in Louisiana.

“The fact is, the French companies, like the U.S. companies, they go where the profit is. Let’s be frank. So, I think my job is simply to tell the French companies, ‘Actually, there is some place to make profit. New Orleans is such a place, because New Orleans has a lot, a lot of assets,’” Araud said.

Currently, there are a handful of French companies that have set up operation in Louisiana including Transdev, Gameloft, Sodexo and Air Liquide. Araud, a self-pronounced “cynical diplomat,” is hoping the number of French companies willing to invest in Louisiana will increase significantly over the coming years because of the state’s cultural heritage and the ongoing influences of the French cultural traditions in communities around the state, as well as the resilience of New Orleans itself.

“It’s a great city. You know, I’m traveling a lot in the U.S. And as a diplomat I’m going to tell you a secret: I don’t like traveling, which is a bit surprising. So every time I leave my residence I’m always moaning saying ‘Why?,’” Araud said to a group of chuckling journalists.

However, Araud did make the trip, despite his aversion to traveling, to see the progress made in a city that 80 percent of which once laid submerged under water after the levees protecting it failed to hold in 2005.

“But what is great now is the feeling that this city has overcome this incredible challenge which was Katrina. And is building a new vibrant community first, and secondly, of course, a new and vibrant economy,” he said. “And the French corporations are there, and I am here because I hope that more French corporations are coming, more are going to invest in this city of the future. You have a great past, people of Nouvelle-Orleans. But I’m really quite excited because I think – and largely thanks to Mayor Landrieu – I do think that this city has an incredible future.”

As part of his welcome address to the ambassador to what he called “our great city,” Mayor Landrieu acknowledged the difficulties and challenges of the past ten years as the city endeavored to rebuild not only its neighborhoods and population, but also its economy.

“You know over the last ten years the city of New Orleans has been, you know, through hell and high water. We had the BP oil spill, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, the national recession,” said Landrieu. “It’s been really tough. And not surprisingly, our friends from France have been with us not only since the beginning of our time but with us in our darkest hours.”

“The French ambassadors who were in residence at the time were down here very, very quickly, Landrieu recalled. “The counsels that were with us – we had the french people – were with us. So it is with great joy that I welcome Ambassasdor Araud today to Louisiana for his visit.”

Araud’s visit follows a visit to Washington D.C. last summer by a delegation representing the city. During that visit, the ambassador hosted a reception in honor of the city’s upcoming tricentennial in 2018.

“Part of his promise, he told us he was going to visit us. This is an individual who has an extensive record in foreign affairs, having served as the ambassador to Israel, and is quite an expert not only on economic affairs but international affairs as well. And we are thrilled to have him with us today, and the United States is lucky that he is the ambassador from the incredible country of France to the United States,” Landrieu said.

Landrieu also took the opportunity to reflect on the terrorist attack on the office of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last year and a resulting visit to Paris:

“Earlier this year, we were visited by the mayor of Paris – Mayor Anne Hildago – who brought with her sixty mayors from the International Francophone. She and I developed a wonderful friendship. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Paris would sustain a terrible terrorist attack. And of course as you know, I had the occasion to travel to Paris this [past] summer, and had an opportunity to return to the people of France the kind of empathy that they showed to us after Katrina.

“We would not be who we are as a people without the country of France. Our architecture, our food, our music, our history. Everything that we have, in large measure, is a result of the influence that the French people have had on us. On top of that, as the ambassador has reminded us so many times, today not only is it about culture and music and art, it’s about doing business, and we have many, many companies in the United States of America that work in and around France, and we also have many French companies that work in the United States, in Louisiana, and, in fact, in New Orleans,” Landrieu said. “Many of them have huge amounts of foreign direct investment in the city of New Orleans and we expect to continue our relationship for a very, very long period of time.”

While in Louisiana, Araud also had the opportunity to see firsthand the successes of French immersion programs. One such program was Lycée Francáise, by which Araud was impressed, particularly because of its public enrollment status. “I visited a charter school today. The French Lycée,” Araud said. “It’s very great. It’s [New Orleans] the only city, I think, in the U.S. where you’ll have a French Lycée which will be public. Really with no tuition, open to everybody of this rich and diverse city.”

Included amongst the list of state officials Araud met with is State Superintendent for Education John White.
Of his visit with White and Lycée Francáise, Araud said: “I was really struck by the will of having diverse community. Really saying it’s a charter school, and this school should reflect the social economy and racial composition of the city. And it was very, very, very, very clear. And I respect it. I really do respect it.”

At a reception hosted the night of his visit to New Orleans at Edgar Degas House by the French-American Chamber of Commerce, Araud presented Eric Belin, the president of the French-American Chamber of Commerce, and Kristie Holm, an attorney and special counsel to the Consulate General of France in Louisiana, with the French National Order of Merit, an honor which is awarded by the president of France, for their commitment to and work in strengthening cultural and economic ties between Louisiana and France.

“In every American city I go I really I feel excited because there is something different. Really, when you go to Chicago, when you go to Houston, they are different cities. The people are equally nice. Everybody is really nice. But you have really different atmospherics,” Araud said. “And here, of course, in New Orleans there’s differences. It’s a real city, and there is a French flavor. Even if I am a cynical diplomat, I’m glad to be moved by this French flavor.”

According to Census data, there are over 150,000 French-speaking people in the state of Louisiana, including those who speak Patois, French Creole, and Cajun French.

“France was part of the past,” Araud said. “France will be part of your future.”

You can follow news and updates from David T. Baker on Twitter at @Tadfly.