Luc Arnould

Hello,

I am Luc Arnould, and my first visit to Lafayette dates back to 1978, when the twinning between the cities of Lafayette and Namur was celebrated.

Two individuals who became friends of mine, Georges Crouchet and Learnice Begnaud, introduced me to Lafayette and later to Cajun country—these people descended from Acadians who had migrated to the northeastern United States.

Later, when I became an advisor at the Belgian Embassy in Washington, D.C., I had the opportunity to return to Acadia and to better understand what the Cajun exile had been, in particular what is known as the Great Upheaval (Grand Dérangement).

While still in Washington, I was tasked with accompanying Prince Philippe, the future King of the Belgians, on a visit to the United States. I succeeded in having one day of his itinerary take place in Lafayette, including a visit to the famous Acadian Village.

The Lafayette–Namur twinning later became closely linked with another partnership: Lafayette–Poitiers. Other twinnings followed, and from this emerged the Sésame Network, of which I served as secretary, and which included up to 13 member cities in Russia, China, Vietnam, and elsewhere.

Francophone cities then took over, benefiting from the creation of the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF). In this way, Lafayette and the wider Louisiana region continue to revive the French language and highlight their Francophone heritage.