The year 2026 holds special significance as it marks the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States, the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks of 2001, and the 25th anniversary of the founding of The French Will Never Forget (Les Français n'oublieront jamais), a French organization dedicated to remembering the victims of the 9/11 attacks and strengthening Franco-American ties. Jean-Pierre Heim, an architect, wrote a chronicle titled Travelling is an Art that details his personal experiences and reflections on the events of September 11, 2001. In the 1970s, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were constructed and became prominent features of Manhattan's skyline. During his first visit to New York, Heim viewed the towers with admiration, considering them symbols of the city's upward ambition, vitality, and forward-looking attitude. On September 11, 2001, Heim was in New York when a phone call informed him that an airplane had struck one of the towers. He witnessed the rising black smoke and the collapse of both towers. The city was filled with the sound of sirens, and Heim went to lower Manhattan, where he saw ambulances, military personnel, armored vehicles, rescue teams, and search dogs around the site. The atmosphere was surreal, with people walking in silence, some covered in dust and ashes. He described New York as wounded, disfigured, and plunged into deep mourning. That evening, Heim was in a restaurant in the Upper East Side when he felt a strong urge to draw in response to the void left by the attacks. He envisioned an immense structure with four towers placed at the corners of a large square, connected at the top and surrounding a large central void. This void was meant to be a space for remembrance and light, featuring a suspended garden inspired by the gardens of Babylon and a large oculus allowing a beam of blue light to pass from Ground Zero into the sky. In 2002, when the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation launched an international competition to imagine the future of the World Trade Center site, Heim and his firm, Jean-Pierre Heim Associates, presented this vision. The project was published in 2003 by Visual Reference Publications and included the preservation of the footprints of the former towers, a garden maze, and red, white, and blue optical fibers radiating from the corners of the structure. On September 11, 2011, The French Will Never Forget organized a significant commemoration at the Trocadéro in Paris, facing the Eiffel Tower. Thousands gathered to honor the victims of the attacks and to express the friendship between France and the United States. The event was described as the largest commemoration held outside the United States, symbolically uniting Paris and New York. The association The French Will Never Forget was established in the aftermath of September 11 and has been developed over more than two decades by its co-founders, Paul Bensabat, Jean-Pierre Heim, Patrick du Tertre, and Christian Millet.