We often pass by without even noticing them. They adorn the walls of our old buildings, brighten up our gardens, or give character to our public squares. These statues, commemorative plaques, and other monuments keep alive the memory of our places. So, Var-matin invites you to discover these memorials in East Var.
Today: the plaque in honor of Thomas Jefferson affixed to the façade of the Town Hall of Fréjus. It was gifted by the American city of Fredericksburg in 2005, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the twinning between the two municipalities. The third president of the United States is more than a symbol of transatlantic friendship here: he is a link between the two municipalities. In fact, around 1759, Jefferson studied, among other places, in Fredericksburg, not far from his hometown of Shadwell. He also drafted the Virginia law on religious freedom in 1777. But Thomas Jefferson also visited the Roman city in 1787. A short stop that history has not forgotten.
At that time, he was not yet President but the United States Ambassador to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin. Based in Paris but with an insatiable curiosity, he set out to explore “Provence and Languedoc.” Passing through Champagne, Burgundy, and Dauphiné, he reached Orange, Nîmes, Arles, Aix, Marseille, Toulon, Nice (then Sardinian), and even went as far as Milan before turning back.
During this journey, he wrote a travel journal of about fifty pages. Far from a poetic description of the French landscapes, it reads more like a work document. The diplomat’s interest was mainly anthropological and technical considerations. He described agricultural workers, the harshness of their lives, their clothing, their clustering in villages or dispersal in farms, as well as their remuneration.
Above all, his roots as a planter surfaced as he focused on various crops, evaluated yields, and assessed the richness of the lands he crossed. An enthusiast of wine, it is no surprise that vines were his preference. He visited vineyards to uncover the secrets of European fine wines. On the French Riviera, he tasted the wines of Bellet near Nice.
But Jefferson also dedicated many notes to the cultivation of oranges, olives, mulberries, pomegranates, cypresses, figs, rice, and aromatic herbs.
Regarding Fréjus and its surroundings, he described: “the road crosses valleys and sometimes climbs over the mountains that separate them. The valleys are quite fertile, always red and stony, gravelly or sandy. The mountains are arid.”
The French influence on Jefferson goes beyond these few pages. Charmed by the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, he drew inspiration from it to build the capitol of Virginia. However, his main accomplishment remains the Declaration of Independence of the United States, of which he was the main drafter. Its 250th anniversary will be celebrated this year. As the head of state, Jefferson also negotiated the purchase of Louisiana from the First Republic in 1803.
Behind these political achievements, there is a genuine attachment to France. Together with his friend, the Marquis de Lafayette, they are generally considered the founding fathers of the Franco-American friendship. It is often attributed to Thomas Jefferson the quote: “Every man has two countries, his own and France.” In reality, this wording is absent from his writings. However, it could be a paraphrase of the following passage from his autobiography: “Ask a traveler, regardless of his nationality: in which country on Earth would you like to live? Certainly in mine, where all my friends, loved ones, and the oldest and sweetest memories of my life reside. What would be your second choice? France.”
In any case, this phrase still resonates today, especially in Fréjus, where it is engraved on the plaque given by its twin city. The Franco-American friendship is still evident as in 2019, when a pecan tree was planted in the garden of Villa Marie in an initiative by the Fréjus Twinning Committee and the Jefferson Pecan Growers Association. The latter organizes similar events throughout France in places where the third President of the USA passed by, leaving an indelible mark in Fréjus for a brief moment in the spring of 1787.
