On Saturday, 19 September 2026, the Lapérouse Albi-France Association (ALAF) attended an exceptional lecture in Brest dedicated to Paul-Antoine Fleuriot de Langle, commander of L’Astrolabe and second-in-command of the expedition. Organised by the Société d’Études de Brest et du Léon at the Colbert Hall of Brest City Hall, the event took place as part of the European Heritage Days and coincided with the publication of special issue No. 14 of Cahiers de l’Iroise.

The speaker, Rear Admiral François Bellec, a member of the French Naval Academy, retraced the career of this Enlightenment-era ‘scholar-officer’ and highlighted his crucial role in the material and scientific preparations for the expedition. Those in attendance enjoyed a captivating presentation that revealed the behind-the-scenes story of the expedition’s preparations in Brest:

• A Proven Friendship and Trust: Having served alongside Lapérouse during the American Revolutionary War, Fleuriot de Langle shared with him a deep bond of trust and understanding, essential for an undertaking of this scale.

• The Creation of a “Floating University”: While La Pérouse was working on the expedition’s instructions at Versailles, Fleuriot de Langle oversaw the enormous task of loading the ships (La Boussole and L’Astrolabe) at Brest. They were stocked with provisions and equipment, but above all with the most advanced scientific instruments of the day, including marine chronometers and Borda’s repeating circles, as well as a team of scientists and artists.

• A Tragic Fate and a Living Legacy: The lecture recalled his pivotal role up until his tragic death in Samoa in 1787, as well as the planned transfer of his remains to the National Maritime Museum at Brest Castle in December 2026, ensuring that his memory lives on.

The event continued with warm and constructive discussions with a particularly attentive audience. Our presence in Brest once again bears witness to the strong bonds that unite enthusiasts of La Pérouse’s epic voyage, from Albi to Brittany. The ALAF remains fully committed to supporting and promoting these commemorative events. You will be kept informed of our upcoming news and activities through this same channel.

If our participation in events of this kind inspires you, and you would like to help raise awareness of the legacy of the renowned navigator Jean-François de Lapérouse, we warmly invite you to join the Association Lapérouse Albi France. By becoming a member of the ALAF, you will join a team of passionate individuals dedicated to promoting maritime history, exploration, and the heritage associated with Lapérouse. Your support helps keep the memory of this great navigator alive and pass on the story of his remarkable life to future generations.

Join the Association: https://www.laperouse-france.org/en/join-renew/

You can also connect and exchange ideas with the community on the association’s Discord server, a new space for discussion and sharing among enthusiasts of history and exploration.

Join the Discord : https://www.laperouse-france.org/fr/2026/03/le-discord-de-lassociation-laperouse-albi-france-est-desormais-disponible-en-ligne/

Lapérouse, the Adventure Continues…

Article written by Nicolas Gosset

The post Fleuriot de Langle and the Preparation of the Lapérouse Expedition in Brest: A Lecture by Rear Admiral François Bellec appeared first on ALAF.

It was in this context that on March 3, 2025, our president J-M Pestel gave a lecture at Météo France in Toulouse.

This was made possible thanks to the mediation of Ms. Monique Percheron, a member of our association and also a member of ANAFACEM.

The audience consisted of members of ANAFACEM (National Association of Former Civil Aviation and Meteorology Officials) gathered for their general meeting, at the end of which our president spoke.

Approximately 60 particularly knowledgeable individuals attended this presentation, whose theme was “How did the Hudson Bay expedition prompt Louis XVI to choose Lapérouse for the expedition around the world?” The presentation lasted approximately 50 minutes.

The large number of questions asked at the end of the presentation was a sign of the audience’s interest. In addition, the sale of books published by our association (asso@laperouse-france.org/boutique) was another gratifying indication of this interest.

Our association would like to thank Ms. Chamayou and her association once again for their initiative.

Thank you to Anne-Marie and Jean-Michel for their contribution to this article.

The post Lecture by our president at Météo France appeared first on ALAF.

The speaker, M. Villiers, a specialist in the subject, is a university professor at Boulogne sur Mer and the author of several books and videos on the subject.

Around thirty listeners enjoyed this historical presentation, rich in instructive remarks on the Naval Administration of the time, which illustrated Lapérouse’s environment at the time of his great voyage.

Mr. Villiers then took part in a question-and-answer session with an attentive and well-informed audience.

Unfortunately, we were unable to record this event. However, you can view one of our speaker’s videos by clicking on the button below. We apologize to our English-speaking friends, as the conference is exclusively in French.

Our association has already scheduled other conferences, and we’ll keep you informed in the same way.

The post The Royal Navy of Louis XVI, a lecture by M. Villiers in Albi, May 6, 2025 appeared first on ALAF.

Our association organized a conference entitled: “The Astrolabe and botanical science, Noah’s Ark for our time”.

Want to know how Lapérouse is helping to preserve our plant biodiversity in 2025?

Just click on the video below!!! Soory for the language, it’s only in french!

Don’t forget to give it a thumbs-up, as the Canadians say, and share it with your friends, acquaintances, …

Lapérouse, the adventure goes on…

The President

Jean-Marie Pestel

The post The Brest conference is now available appeared first on ALAF.

From 12 to 17 July, the sea was in the spotlight, with festivities, conferences, dances and songs punctuating life in Brest. More than 500,000 people turned out to share in this UNFORGETTABLE event!

A talk by Stéphane Buord

On 15 July, Stéphane Buord, Scientific Director of International Activities at the Conservatoire Botanique de Brest, gave a talk for the Lapérouse Albi France association entitled “La Boussole and botanical science: the Noah’s Ark of our time”.

The Brest Botanical Conservatory is one of twelve botanical conservatories in mainland France and its overseas territories involved in studying, supporting, preserving and raising awareness of wild plant heritage. Set up in 1975, it has provided and continues to provide knowledge of wild plants and natural environments. Their conservation work involves supporting professionals, providing information and educating young people.

The Lapérouse expedition and the preservation of botanical species

In 1986, during an excavation expedition in Vanikoro, archaeologists collected banksia seeds and exhibited them in the Nouméa museum. Despite several efforts to conserve the plant, it was declared extinct in 1990. Jean-Yves Lesouëf, founder of the Conservatoire Botanique de Brest, and Stéphane Buord then undertook new work. Seeds were brought back to Brest in 2010. Their study led to the creation of “innovative processes and the pursuit of scientific research on other species”.

Stéphane Buord’s talk, which took place on board the ship Hydrograaph, focused on a fascinating and revolutionary story, in which we learned how the Lapérouse expedition led to the reintroduction of an extinct plant species.

But the adventure doesn’t stop there, because thanks to the work initially carried out on the Banskia, the CNB has succeeded in re-establishing another plant, Cylindrocline lorencei, which had disappeared in the wild, on its native island of Mauritius.

So it was at the instigation of the Lapérouse association that we met Stéphane Buord in Brest. We would like to thank him warmly for this highly instructive talk. The link between Albi and Brest is closer than ever. Jacques Picard, an eminent member, is also a perfect illustration of this. Born in Lesneven, he was a pupil at the Lapérouse-Kerichen college in Brest, then successively president of the Commercial Courts of Brest and Toulouse, where he was recently awarded the Légion d’honneur.

The association would also like to extend a special thank you to Mr Jean Martin, a friend of Jacques Picard, for welcoming us and sharing his knowledge of Brittany with us.

Some of the association’s members travelled from Brittany and all over France to attend the conference and enjoy the festive atmosphere in Brest.

For technical reasons, the conference could not be recorded. However, we are keen to share all this information with you, which is why we will be meeting Mr Buord again. He will give us a second conference, this time recorded, which we will pass on to you. We thank him in advance.

We’ll be in touch with you soon to let you know more about the event!

The Hydrograaf, from Rotterdam to Brest

The conference took place on the Hydrograaf, a ship built in the early 1910s in Rotterdam for the Royal Netherlands Navy. With its shallow draught, it can also navigate in the shallow coastal waters of the south-west of the Netherlands, in the IJsselmeer and the Wadden Sea. In winter, she remains in port.

On several occasions, it was used for Queen Wilhelmine (1880 – 1962), Prince Consort Henri of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1876 – 1934) and Princess Juliana (1909 – 2004).

In June 1940, the ship left Vlissingen for England and was used for mine clearance. In 1943, she became a depot ship in the port of Harwich (south-west England). After the conquest of Zeeland Flanders in 1944, she anchored in the port of Antwerp.

After the Second World War, she returned to hydrographic service with the navy. In 1962, she was decommissioned and replaced by the more modern Zeefakkel.

It finally became a museum when it was bought by a private individual in 1985.

“Emblematic” visits

During the Brest Festival, representatives of the Lapérouse Association were able to visit the Musée de la Marine and meet its director Jean-Yves Besseliévre.

Then, before the departure of the big gathering, the team went to the Quai Lapérouse (the largest quay in Brest), from where the expedition set sail on 1 August 1785.

Upcoming conferences

We’re working hard to bring you more conferences on a range of subjects. We’ll be sure to keep you informed!

The post Brest 2024 conference appeared first on ALAF.

More than 120 people turned up at the Université du Temps Libre Choletais to hear our Chairman speak. After two hours of presentations and discussions, the success of the conference was confirmed by thunderous applause.

This conference marks the resumption of our activities in Albi and other towns in France, which we will be presenting to you very soon…

The post Cholet hosts the first conference of 2024 appeared first on ALAF.

Christian Coiffier was trained as an architect and anthropologist. He is currently a lecturer at the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle de Paris and in charge of the research and teaching department of the musée du quai Branly. He has published over a hundred scientific articles during his career.

Christian Coiffier, here lying on a table, is an anthropologist at the Museum of Man (National Museum of Natural History). The scientist showed the inhabitants of Vanikoro photos of objects collected during previous excavations.

The goal: to know the original names of these objects, sometimes referenced in European museums under the wrong names.

To know more about it:

Le masque en Océanie

The post An ethnologist’s view of Vanikoro appeared first on ALAF.

Yves Bourgeois, director of several reports on the subject and connoisseur of Lapérouse, will speak at a thematic conference, rather original, which will provide “tangible and realistic proof of the modernity that links us to Lapérouse“. The storytelling talent of the man who has explored the Vanikoro site on several occasions during research missions, will once again take the audience on a journey through time, space and the emblematic ports of call of the navigator. “Lapérouse has something that other explorers don’t have, because we don’t know what happened after the shipwreck; that makes this story even more exciting.“

Free admission. June 23 at 6:30 pm at the Athanor, rue des Cordeliers.

Read more

The post An evening around the Lapérouse project on June 23 appeared first on ALAF.

These conferences are held regularly, almost every month. They are video conferences, held in English, always at 7:00 pm, French time. They bring together Americans, Canadians of native and European origin, as well as a few French people around rich and varied themes in a spirit worthy of that of the Lapérouse expedition!

The program of these conferences is available on the association’s website. The next conference will be held on March 19.

The post Alaska – Conferences 2022 appeared first on ALAF.

February 10th, 2022 6pm

Proposed by l’Association Lapérouse Albi France

The navigation of
Lapérouse between Hawaï and Monterey.

by

Marc Onetto,
member of ALAF

Abstract

Marc Onetto is based in Seattle in the northwestern United States. He is now retired after a long career in large American companies.

Every summer, Marc explores the Pacific coastline between Seattle and Alaska with his boat, which he named Lapérouse in honor of the great French explorer. During his cruises, Marc visits the sites that Laperouse visited in 1786 during his exploration of the North Pacific coast.

He is a member of the Lapérouse Albi France Association and the Lapérouse Alaska Association which celebrates the friendship between Lapérouse and the Tlingit Nation. Marc is also a French Foreign Trade Advisor and a Knight of the National Order of Merit.

Registration

All ALAF members are invited: they will receive a link in early February to participate in the videoconference. Non-members who wish to participate are also welcome. They just need to contact us.

The post From Hawaii to Monterey appeared first on ALAF.