Weissberg was back in town this week as part of a road trip he’s taking across the U.S. filming a documentary on French citizens living in America. The final film is expected to come out in December, he said, and will feature local people in the Adirondacks.

His family has a long history of connecting the two countries. They’ve had strong ties with Saranac Lake for three generations. After his grandfather Jack moved here from France in 1971 and bought 36 Broadway, he and Weissberg’s father Ken worked with former Saranac Lake Mayor Bill Madden to create a sister city association between Saranac Lake and Entrains-sur-Nohain in rural France. They twinned the two sister cities in 1989, tying them together.

Weissberg feels very connected to Saranac Lake. He’s been coming here since he was born. He was raised in Paris and for many years spent three to six months a year in Saranac Lake.

“I feel this is home,” he said.

Christopher Weissberg, right, meets with U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron in December. (Provided photo)

His family founded Left Bank Cafe and Weissberg said he always enjoyed working at the restaurant. It was hard work, but worth it.

“It’s the best way to be part of the community,” he said.

To him, serving food is just an excuse to socialize.

Weissberg is now one of 11 members of the French Parliament who represent the 2.5 million French living and voting abroad. He said his job is similar to the sister city connection, just on a much larger scale, and that his time in Saranac Lake influenced his political career.

“I would have never done this if I hadn’t been from here and living here for years,” he said,

Christopher Weissberg stands with the van he is driving across America to film a documentary. (Provided photo)

Most of his constituents are dual citizens or have lived in the U.S. for many years.

“I feel very connected because I’ve lived their experience,” Weissberg said, adding that his constituents are grateful to have someone representing them who has lived like they do.

He talks about Saranac Lake on his visits around the continent often.

When French President Emmanuel Macron started his campaign in 2016, he was looking for supporters abroad. Weissberg worked on the presidential campaign, gathering donations and votes in North America. When Macron was elected, he worked in the French foreign affairs office. Then, he chose to run for office in 2022.

Weissberg said his is a classic tale of getting involved in politics for a specific candidate, getting sucked in and running for an office of his own. Now, 60% of his time is spent in Paris and 40% in North America. Of the 240,000 voters he represents, he said 30% are active voters and most vote online nowadays.

Christopher Weissberg is seen pictured on Broadway in Saranac Lake Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Montreal and New York City are the two major hubs for French voters on this continent, and Weissberg said he is fortunate Saranac Lake is right in the middle of these metropolises.

He said his voters care about some of the same big issues as American voters — education, avoiding increases in taxation, retirement pensions, immigration visas and commerce.

“We have so much in common,” Weissberg said.

“I always say the U.S. is always 20 years in advance of what France is politically,” he added. “The revolution in America was in 1776. Ours was in 1789. What’s going on with Trump is coming in France. What’s coming up with the very, very radical left liberals, cancel culture, is coming to France.”

Weissberg said France has still not had an Obama-type leader — someone with a different background who came into power — but he hopes that can happen.

In December, Weissberg got to attend Macron’s state visit in Washington, D.C. as part of his delegation, where they worked out what the most important issues for their respective countries are to tackle together in the next five years.

He met with U.S. Congress leaders — all the heavy-hitters — right up to the top with a “very rare” meeting between the two county’s presidents. This was Macron’s first state meeting with Joe Biden.

The two presidents talked about their support for Ukraine, space exploration through NASA, education, the economy and international commerce. They discussed “French for All,” an effort to teach more French in American public schools, as well as an expansion for visas for investors. The Trump administration reduced these visas to two years from four, and Weissberg said they successfully lobbied the Biden administration to return them to four.

Weissberg said the film he is producing is a way to understand both countries he works in, connecting French roots in America to the new French generation.

While there’s a lot of focus on the major urban areas, spending so much time in Saranac Lake, he knew there’s many French connections all over the U.S. So he got a van to drive coast-to-coast and stop in small towns to meet with French immigrants.

His travels have brought him to California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho and Utah thus far, with Texas and Florida on the itinerary — from the Cajun in Louisiana to the Acadian in Canada.

Along the way he meets over wine and cheese to interview inspiring people: Tariq Abdul-Wahad, the first French NBA player; Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of famous oceanographer Jacques Cousteau who is carrying on his family’s ocean research; Daniel Boulud, a famous chef in New York City; Adam Cheyer, a co-founder of Siri and a French cowboy who owns a ranch in Nevada.

Currently, his visits are being documented through videos posted to his Instagram page. He plans to release a full documentary in December. The idea for the film came from French author Alexis de Tocqueville’s classic 1835 book “Democracy in America.”

Weissberg said next year is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the start of the liberation of France from Nazi military occupation by the Allied forces, which began with the invasion of the beaches of Normandy, France.

He is trying to get students from Saranac Lake and Entrains to have a student exchange to visit their respective sister cities during this historic anniversary. It’s been more than two decades since this last happened, he said.