The Victoria Advocate: Remains of 17th century sailor laid to rest

"'As a French citizen, I'm deeply moved to see so many Texans present to pay tribute to an unknown French sailor who participated in the founding moments of Texas,' said Jean-David Levitte, France's ambassador to the United States."

As all Texans know, there were six flags over Texas, and one of these is the old flag of the French monarchy. La Belle touched down close to my home town of Victoria, Texas.

So as a US citizen, a hometown Texan and as a French citizen, allow me to say that I, too, feel moved by this tribute. On the other hand, it's too bad that the funding for further archeological work fell through on La Belle. Maybe France should cough-up some goodwill money in this respect.