This Tuesday, November 19, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. sharp, two brothers, Matthias – living in Reunion -, and Barthélémy Lambert will board the Marion Dufresne. The dream of the two brothers is to place a plaque on the inaccessible island of Saint-Paul (French Southern and Antarctic Lands – TAAF) to pay tribute to their great-great-grandfather Admiral Ernest Mouchez. In 1874 he led an expedition to this 8km2 volcanic rock located 3,000 km from Reunion (Photo: Nelly Gravier – TAAF)
The idea for this project dates back to 2021, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of their ancestor's expedition
The two brothers said to themselves “why not go take a look”, they told France 3. Their dream was to place a commemorative plaque in homage to their ancestor.
Being part of the Marion Dufresne team and docking on an island closed to visitors is not something you do lightly. Matthias and Barthélémy Lambert had to present a project to attract the management of the TAAF. The “Venus in Sight” project.
“We convinced the TAAF to have two places on board, to support the rotation for almost a month and above all to make a short stopover at Saint-Paul Island to install the plaque,” Barthélémy congratulates the media.
This “Venus in sight” project is supported by the French Astronomical Association.
– In the footsteps of Ernest Mouchez on Saint-Paul Island –
Once the 9,000 km have been covered, the two brothers will be able to land, weather permitting, on the land where their great-great-grandfather set foot in 1874.
“We will have the opportunity to go down there for no more than 30 minutes,” explains Matthias Lambert. “A plaque will be screwed and there will be a ceremony in honor of our ancestor,” he adds, interviewed by France 3.
A ceremony in the presence of Isabelle Autissier, the president of the Advisory Council of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands nature reserve.
An exhibition in honor of Admiral Mouchez will also take place on January 20 in Reunion, where the TAAF headquarters is located.
Their great-great-grandfather, Admiral Enrnest Mouchez, anchored on the island of Saint-Paul on September 23, 1874. For three months, he built an astronomical observatory there.
Its objective is to observe the passage of the planet Venus in front of the sun.
That day, thanks to favorable weather, he was able to calculate “the astronomical unit which is the distance from the earth to the sun”, which descendants present as the “most precise” observation of the time. then studied by the Academy of Sciences.
“This project allowed us to rediscover the history of our ancestor,” confides Barthélémy Lambert. “We became aware of the courage and ingenuity of this man who crossed hostile seas to accomplish his mission.”
– Saint-Paul, a forbidden island –
The Saint-Paul district is located in the south of the Indian Ocean – managed by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF).
In Saint-Paul, no humans per square kilometer, only animals enjoying the calm. The island is only visited during brief scientific expeditions.
Apart from these missions, access to the island is prohibited for environmental reasons.
You can follow the epic tale of the two brothers here.
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