Maine will be featured on an upcoming segment on TV5Monde, a French-language broadcasting station with satellite channels throughout the world.

The Maine show is part of a U.S. travelogue called “L’Amerique Dans Tous Ses Etats” (Across America), narrated by Gerard Klein, a familiar name in French media. Klein, 68, worked in French radio for 12 years and another dozen years in the movie industry.

“We want to show the European television audience what America is like by interviewing people we meet who live in all the 50 states,” Klein said in a recent phone interview.

Klein said he was surprised to learn about Maine’s French heritage when he was filming here last year, and is considering a return trip to focus on French speaking Franco-Americans. Klein discusses the European settlers who first colonized Maine, and notes that French-Canadians are the state’s largest immigrant ethnic group.

Klein said the visit was memorable for the cool weather and the food: “French people really like lobster!”

Among the people he interviewed was Mic Mac Indian Brian Theriault in Fort Kent, who discussed the history of Maine and how it related to his tribe’s culture and how they integrate into modern society.

While in Fort Kent, Klein learned about the area’s French Acadian ancestors who came to Northern Maine following le grand derangement (the British deportation of Acadians from Nova Scotia) during the middle 18thcentury. He spoke in French with some Northern Maine residents who “had a French accent”, he said.

His travelogue took him into the Maine woods of Millinocket where he met Rudy Pelletier, who introduced him to how loggers work in the state’s forestry and paper industries. Pelletier’s hazardous work involves operating machines needed to harvest huge trees. Most of Pelletier’s family also works in forestry.

In Portland, Klein interviewed Beth Purdy, an entrepreneur who recycles used sails for her Sea Bags product line.

Klein says the Americans he meets are often similar to people in France.

“I love meeting people,” Klein said. “Americans have quite a bit in common with the French.”

The Maine segment of “L’Amerique Dans Tous Ses Etats” will air on TV5Monde on Monday, May 28 at 6:30 p.m. The series will eventually encompass visits to all 50 states.