Le Havre : Where the sea invite herself into the city…

In Le havre, the sea is omnipresent: in the architecture, in the city history but also in every inhabitants mind.

I.History At the end of the Middle-Ages, Rouen is the economic capital of Normandy, thanks to its shipping activities. The problem was that shipping on the river was long, difficult, perilous and the big vessel couldn’t pass. That’s why in 1517, François 1st gave the permission to Mr. Bonnivet, a french admiral, to find a “havre” (haven), a shelter for the warship, but also for the merchant ship. The port work were finished in 1518 (after the deadline).

It’s Mr. Chillou who decides that Le Havre must be populated, he bought two big plot of land (from each side of the Seine) but no one wanted to live there… On the 8 th October, the king François 1 st decided to grant to the inhabitants the right to not pay the taxes. Le Havre became the royal town of François 1st and his symbol (salamander) still trims the city’s blazon. The king had always wanted Le Havre to be an “aquatic city”!

II. When the sea enter into the city We can say that Le Havre is an “aquatic” city because there are lots of ornamental lakes (bassin du Roi, bassin du commerce…) dispersed in the all town and what is more: the sea. In the middle of Le Havre is an enormous ornamental lake: the “Bassin du commerce” next to the Volcan (a famous theatre). Bassin du commerce

III. Le Havre and tourism A) The car-ferries The fact that Le Havre is a port city attract people, it’s common to see American, Chinese or every nationalities people in the funicular… The first reason is that lots of ferries arrived in Le Havre. The English people coming to France, do a stopover to our city on the day of their arrival, which is a good idea because our town is attractive!

B) The docks There wasn’t a long time ago, when you came in Le Havre, the “Quartier de l’Eure” was a heap of warehouse’s ruins… It has now turned into an asset: the old Vauban docks (which stocked coffee, cotton and spice during the XIXs century) are now a beautiful shopping center that inherits the history of the buildings. In facts, the modern materials go well with the bricks and the wood of the XIXs century…Built in front of the port, it showed the place of the harbour in our city. An area not to be missed!

IV. Studies in Le Havre In Le Havre, there are several higher education school : in management, in engineering, technological school, in science, international business… The engineering school is built near to the docks, and water.

The newness in Le Havre that would certainly delight all the student with a little budget is a strange type of flat. It exists in only four country in the world : a home-container. It would be ridiculous in the 1 st port of goods container transit to not have those! Bed bathroom Desk kitchen

In Saint-Adresse, there is a famous high school called l’Hydro, which is a merchant navy school. Lots of boys born in Le Havre decide to do this school because it’s in their origins. Since their early childhood, they always did sailing, or pleasant boat and if they loved that, they decide to do it in their “real” life.

V. Marina and fishing port The inhabitants of Le Havre have already sailed once. The town include three sailing/boating school, a big marina where you can leave your boat 365days/365 days. It waters are deep and it’s the biggest of Normandy…

We hope seeing you in Le Havre!

Text and layout: Marie Wilmet Photos: Lindsay Letac, Gauthier Ly, Elisabeth Teynié, Marie Wilmet and Websites