They did and arrived three days early! http://etvradio.org/post/replica-lafayettes-ship-recreates-historic-voyage-america
Thanks for the post, this might require a trip to Philly some time between June 25-28. http://tallshipsphiladelphia.com/ships/ Also, she will be visiting ports along the East Coast before returning to France. http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/lafayettes-ship-and-journey-will-be-recreated/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1
Yes and a stop at Saint Pierre and Miquelon too. I saw her twice at the Rochefort arsenal : in 1997 when the keel was harly finished and in 2014 when she was almost ready to make her first test sailings. It's a tremendous job that was made possible by finding the original bele prints in local archives. Hats off to those who build it the way our ancestors used to build ships. The hardest was to find the perfect oak trees used for the masts. These are getting rare in our modern countries.
http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/en-images-1997-2015-l-hermione-un-chantier-titanesque-14-04-2015-4692001.php