Wilson Bridge to Open at Midnight Tuesday for French Tall Ship

The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge will open at midnight Tuesday to allow French tall ship Hermione (it’s 185 feet tall) to makes its way to Old Town for its three-day visit to Alexandria.

The weather Tuesday night is expected to be partly cloudy, with a low around 66 degrees. There is a 20 percent change of precipitation before midnight.

The French tall ship Hermione has crossed the Atlantic for a 12-city tour along the East Coast. It’s sailing to Alexandria from Mount Vernon. It arrived in Yorktown a few days ago. The ship is a replica of the boat that took 5,500 French troops to fight the British during the American revolution in 1780. Construction of Hermione began in 1997 based on its sister ship, La Concorde.

• Also read: Ten Days of Events Related to French Tall Ship’s Visit to Alexandria

The ship should see perfect weather while it is docked in Alexandria, although it will be getting pretty warm by Friday, the last day the ship is docked before it sails to Annapolis. Here’s a look at the weather:

• Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 86. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Low around 67 degrees.
• Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Low around 73 degrees.
• Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 93.

PHOTO: Here’s what it looks like when the draw bridge goes up to allow a tall ship to sail through at the Wilson Bridge. This is the tall ship ARC Gloria (Colombian Naval Academy training vessel) as it passes under the eight-leaf bascule bridge, shown here during construction in the summer of 2007. 2007 TOP SHOTS PHOTOS courtesy of Parsons Brinkerhoff

Watch a video below from the Hermione’s sendoff in France.