(This article was first published on my blog and is part of my “Ask a Frenchman” series)Liminal Web is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. A while ago, in 2001 to be precise, when I lived in Florida, I met a woman who became a good friend and who was a Francophile (one of the few Francophiles I met in the US who tried to befriend me and succeeded, sadly we lost touch). One day she told me that she could claim French citizenship if she ever were to move to France because she was born in Oklahoma, which was formerly part of French Louisiana.