44 (D-18) Lafayette... and Lafayette!

LAFAYETTE, there's a name the French people know!  And what a coincidence!  Look at Saturday's post on this blog: Acadian Village / Lafayette.  That Saturday, April 19, 2015 was the day when the replica of the Hermione, the ship which took Lafayette (in 1780, at age 23!) back to America 235 years ago, set sail from Ile d'Aix for a six-week journey to the United States. 
http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/france-monde/la-fregate-l-hermione-appareille-pour-l-amerique-235-ia0b0n2779418
Or in English if you prefer: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-19/replica-of-french-general27s-historic-us-independence-ship-sai/6403618

And Lafayette is also the name of the 4th-largest city in Louisiana, with a population of 124,276 in 2013.  The city was founded in 1821 by Jean Mouton, a French-speaking man of Acadian descent and in 1884 its name was changed from Vermilionville to Lafayette* for General Lafayette who fought with and greatly helped the American Army during the 
American Revolutionary War (1775-1783).

Lafayette is considered the center of Acadiana. (See the map on Day 2 (D-60)...when this blog began!

The city's economy was primarily based on agriculture until the 1940s, when the petroleum and natural gas industries became dominant.

Today more than 1000 students participate in the Lafayette area's French immersion learning option, in which students begin at an early age --  either preschool or kindergarten -- learning all their subjects in the foreign language, except for English.

Jane
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*Many other cities in the United States, as well as counties, streets and squares - including Lafayette Square opposite the White House - are also named after Lafayette.
Did you know that there was also the Lafayette dollar minted (frappé) in 1899 as part of the United States participation in The Paris World's Fair of 1900?
And did you know that Lafayette named his only child, born in 1779, George Washington de Lafayette?

Washington and Lafayette

Le Serment de La Fayette à la Fête de la Fédération, 14 juillet 1790 

The painting is in the Musée Carnavalet in Paris

The boy in the painting is Lafayette's son, George Washington.

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a county = United States administrative division which, as you remember, is called a parish in Louisiana.