Our ancestors in Indochina

France-Vietnam relations started as early as the 17th century with the mission of the Jesuit, Father Alexandre de Rhodes. At this time, Vietnam was only just beginning to occupy the Mekong Delta, former territory of the Indianized kingdom of Champa they had defeated in 1471.[1] European involvement in Vietnam was confined to trade during the 18th century. In 1787, Pigneau de Béhaine petitioned the French government and organized French military volunteers to aid Nguyễn Ánh in retaking lands lost to the Tây Sơn. Pigneau died in Viet Nam, his troops fought on until 1802 in the French assistance to Nguyễn Ánh.

France was heavily involved in Vietnam in the 19th century; protecting the work of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in the country was often presented as a justification. For its part, the Nguyễn Dynasty increasingly saw Catholic missionaries as a political threat; courtesans, for example, an influential faction in the dynastic system, feared for their status in a society influenced by an insistence on monogamy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Indochina

French expatriates in Vietnam

Would you like to get in touch with french people living in Vietnam? Discover the French expatriate community in Vietnam, the best way to make French friends and to contact french people in Vietnam! You can also get in touch with all the members of the Vietnam network.

http://www.expat-blog.com/en/nationalities/french/in/asia/vietnam/2/