Sometimes it takes an outsider to bring a country together.

Coming up, author Sarah Val explains how the Marquis de Lafayette helped to unify the

United States after a divisive presidential election in 1824.

Because he was a Frenchman and he came over as a teenager to volunteer with Washington's

Army, he kind of belonged to everybody.

He wasn't a northerner or a southerner.

When Hiram Bingen went looking for the lost city of the Incas back in 1911, he got more

than he bargained for when he stumbled upon the royal site of Machu Picchu.

The thing that he did though that was so smart was he brought his camera with him.

And get tips for touring the distilleries and tasting rooms of Scotland like a connoisseur.

The fascination of the whiskeys is that go from area to area, distillery to distillery,

they all have a different taste to them.

American history with a French accent, the trail to Machu Picchu and the national drink

of Scotland, it's all just ahead on travel with Rick Steves.

One of public radio's favorite historians joins us in just a bit today on travel with Rick Steves.

Sarah Val explains how there probably wouldn't have been a United States without the help of the French.

We'll get to know why the Marquis de Lafayette became an American hero, as well as the namesake

for many American towns, squares and pull-of-arts.

And friends from Scotland raise a glass with us with tips for touring the scotch whiskey tasting rooms across their country.

That's a little later in the hour.

As an editor at National Geographic, Mark Adams figured the centennial of Hiram Bingham's

famous find at Machu Picchu deserved a special treatment.

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