Traveling with the Jones

Le Havre is a port city in the Normandy region of northwestern France with a population of 170,000 residents. It is located on the English Channel coast and on the right bank of the Seine estuary, 134 miles west-northwest of Paris.

We visited Le Havre more than 20 years ago, on a port call during a Western Europe cruise. Like many cruise passengers, we skipped Le Havre and spent our day making the long bus tour journey to Paris.

Now, we are considering returning to Le Havre in 2021, and wanted to learn more about the city.

24 Fun Facts About Le Havre, France

1. King Francis I founded the city and port of Le Havre in 1517.

2. The name Le Havre means “the harbor” or “the port.”

3. The citizens of Le Havre are known as “Havrais” or “Havraises.”

4. The Port of Le Havre — with more than four miles of docks — is the largest container port in France. It also is a major cruise port, as well as a ferry port for crossing the English Channel.

5. Le Havre has a modern grid-like layout makes it easy to navigate.

6. During World War II, Le Havre was occupied by Germany from the spring of 1940.

7. In September 1944, Le Havre was heavily bombed by the Allied Forces decimating the city center, destroying 12,500 buildings and leaving 40,000 people homeless nothing more than a gigantic field of ruins.

8. In the spring of 1945, the Minister of Reconstruction and Town Planning, entrusted the reconstruction of the Le Havre city center to French architect Auguste Perret.

“What I want is to do something new and sustainable.”
Auguste Perret, October 1945

9. Between 1946 and 1964, the city of Le Havre was rebuilt according to the plans from Auguste Perret. To rehouse the city’s homeless, 150 concrete residential blocks were built in the city’s destroyed docks.

10. Perret – who pioneered the architectural use of reinforced concrete –designed a group of buildings in the center of Le Havre, including the town hall and St. Joseph’s Church – his last major work.

11. St. Joseph’s church in Le Havre – built between 1951 and 1958 – was finished after Perret’s death in 1954. Built in the Neo-Classical style, the church’s most prominent feature is its 351 ft. tower, which resembles a lighthouse, and is visible at sea.

12. St. Joseph’s church contains 12,768 panes of colored glass that create a futuristic kaleidoscope of light on the interior floors and pillars. The church, a temple of concrete and stained glass, stands as an icon of Le Havre’s rejuvenation.

13. The Perret Show Flat is a small museum where you step back into the 1950s as you stroll through a 1,076 square ft. apartment that was designed by Auguste Perret for the 1947 World Fair, and then re-created in the Porte Ocean housing block of Le Havre.

14. The Perret-designed apartment includes three bedrooms, a living room, library/den, bathroom and kitchen — furnished with mass-produced furniture of the time, and filled with the modern domestic conveniences of the day — such as a pressure cooker, Frigidaire, vacuum cleaner, washing machine, and floor polisher.

15. Another notable architectural work — the Le Havre Cultural Center, nicknamed “The Volcano”– was designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and built between 1978 and 1982. This space-age complex — made of two white curved concrete masses that are accessible via a series of sloped walkways, is home to Le Havre National Theater.

16. Next door the Petit Volcan houses the extensive, modern Oscar Niemeyer library opened in November 2015. The library is equipped 125 computer stations, free Wi-Fi connections and numerous electrical outlets for visitors.

17. In 2005, the city center of Le Havre was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognized as an extraordinary urban complex.

18. Le Havre was also an important city for the Impressionists who viewed the light on the estuary where the Seine empties into the ocean as one of their great inspirations.

19. In 1872, Claude Monet visited his hometown of Le Havre and created a series of works depicting the port of Le Havre.

20. Monet’s Impression, Sunrise became the most famous in the series after being debuted at what would become known as the “Exhibition of the Impressionists” in Paris in April, 1874. This painting is credited with inspiring the name of the Impressionist movement.

21. The André Malraux Museum of Modern Art (also known as MuMa) in Le Havre overlooks the harbor entrance close to where Claude Monet painted the city. Constructed between 1952 and 1961, the MuMa was of the first major museum built in France after World War II. It contains one of the country’s most extensive collections of impressionist paintings.

22. Flooded with the natural light of the Normandy coast, the MuMa is a perfect setting for its extensive collection of 19th and 20th-century paintings by Claude Monet, Eugène Boudin, Édouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Henri Matisse, among many others.

23. Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde, currently serving as the president of the European Central Bank since November 2019, spent her childhood in Le Havre, France. Ms. Lagarde attended Le Havre public schools including the Le Havre Lycée François 1er (where her father taught) and Lycée Claude Monet. Between July 2011 and November 2019, she served as chair and managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

24. A study by Aphekom comparing ten large French cities showed that Le Havre is the least polluted urban city in France.

Have you been to Le Havre, France? What fun fact can you add?

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For inspiring artists:

Monet and the Impressionists for Kids: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities

One of the ways we’ve been able to explore more of the world is by collecting and using hotel award points. The Hilton Honors program includes more than 6,200 hotels located in 118 countries and territories around the world.

You can earn Hilton Honors points by staying at 18 different hotel brands ranging from the Waldorf Astoria to the Homewood Suites. Both of us have been members of the Hilton Honors program for more than 20 years. If you want to become a member of Hilton Honors, sign up here.

Before we book a hotel, especially one for a multi-night vacation stay, we like to see photos from other guests, rather than the professional ones on the website. All of the posts provide a photo tour of the hotel room as we experienced it.

Hilton Honors Hotels in Asia

Asia, we’ve found, is one of the best places to redeem Hilton Honors points for maximum value: redemption levels tend to be lower, the hotels tend to be newer and offer fantastic service and amenties.

Australia

• A Peek Inside the Parmelia Perth Hilton Hotel, Australia

China and Taiwan

• A Look Inside the Hilton Beijing Capital Airport Hotel
• Hilton Taipei Sinban Hotel located in the Banqiao district of New Taipei City, Taiwan. Hotel Review: Hilton Taipei Sinban

Japan

• Hotel Review: Hilton Narita Airport Hotel near Tokyo, Japan
• Photo Tour of Room 1143 — Hilton Tokyo Narita Airport Hotel

Maldives

• This is Paradise: the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
• Getting to Paradise: the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

Singapore and Malaysia

• A Look Inside the Conrad Centennial Singapore Hotel
• A Return Visit to the Conrad Centennial Hotel in Singapore

• A Look Inside the Hilton Kuala Lumpur Hotel
• Not Your Average Hotel Restaurant: Chynna in the Hilton Kuala Lumpur

Hilton Honors Hotels in Europe

• A Look Around the new Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Hotel
• A Look Inside the Hilton Amsterdam Hotel
• A Peek Inside the Hilton Antwerp Old Town Hotel
• A Look Inside the Hilton Belfast Hotel
• A Look Inside the Milan Hilton Hotel

Hilton Honors Hotels in North America

Canada

• A Look Inside the Hilton Garden Inn Montreal Centre-Ville Hotel

East Coast of United States

• A Peek Inside the Hilton Atlanta Airport Hotel
• A Look Inside the Hilton Boston Logan Airport Hotel
• A Peek Inside New York City’s Hilton Times Square Hotel
• A Peek Inside the Hilton New York Fashion District Hotel
• A Peek Inside the Hilton Washington Dulles Airport Hotel

Florida

• A Look Inside the Hilton Garden Inn Ft Lauderdale Airport-Cruise Port
• Traveling With a 12-Year-Old: The Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel
• A Peek Inside the Hilton Clearwater Beach Hotel
• A Look Inside the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Hotel
• It’s hard not to love a Conrad Hotel: A Look Inside the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel

Midwestern United States

• A Peek Inside the Hilton Minneapolis Hotel
• A Look Inside the Rochester, Minnesota Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Hotel
• A Look Inside the Hilton Milwaukee City Center Hotel
• A Look Inside the Wit Hotel, Chicago — a Doubletree by Hilton Hotel
• A Peek Inside Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton Hotel
• A Peek Inside the Conrad Chicago
• A Peek Inside the Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile

West Coast of United States

• Part of Hilton’s “Tapestry Collection,” A Look Inside the Sound Hotel in Seattle, Washington
• A Look Inside the Hilton San Francisco Airport Bayfront Hotel

Hilton Honors Hotels in Central America

• A Look Inside the Hilton Panama Hotel

What is your favorite Hilton Honors hotel brand? A favorite hotel that you would recommend?

Share your comments or questions via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram.

Brest is a port city in Brittany, in the far northwestern part of France, on the western edge of continental Europe.

The ms Nieuw Statendam, one of Holland America Line’s newest ships, is scheduled for a port call in Brest on April 28, 2021, as part of the 14-Day Azores & Normandy cruise sailing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Amsterdam.

Situated to the north of a landlocked bay, the city of Brest, France is divided by the Penfeld River. The part of the town on the left bank is regarded as Brest proper, while the part on the right is known as the Recouvrance neighborhood.

With a population of 140,000 residents, the city of Brest is known for its maritime history and naval base.

12 Fun Facts About Brest, France

1. The name of the Brest is first recorded as Bresta; it may derive from “brigs“– a Celtic word for “hill.”

2. Brest is a city of hills. The hillsides are so steep in some places that the second or third story of one house is level with the ground floor of the house beside it.

3. The Celts, Romans, Saxons, Franks and Normans all settled in Brest over different centuries. In 1491, Brest became a part of the French crown when Claude, the daughter of Anne of Brittany married Francis I of France.

4. The port of Brest is located on the northern edge of “rade de Brest” which is a bay of protected water covering 70 square miles. The Brest Bay is linked to the Atlantic Ocean by the Goulet de Brest, a straight that is a little more than one mile wide.

5. In 1631 Cardinal Richelieu recognized the strength of Brest’s location on the bay and constructed a wooden wharf harbor that later became a base for the French Navy. In 1752 the Académie de Marine (Naval Academy) was founded in Brest.

WW I American Troops N304Th Field Artillery Disembarking From The USS Leviathan In Brest France May 1918

6. In 1917, during World War I, thousands of “sammies” — (a nickname referring to troops sent by Uncle Sam) — entered France through the port of Brest on their way to the front lines. In February of 1918, the U.S. Navy established a naval air station at Brest to operate seaplanes. It was closed shortly after the November 11, 1918 Armistice.

7. During World War II, the Germans — who occupied Northern France in June 1940 — built and maintained a large U-boat submarine base at Brest, using it against Allied shipping. In 1944, after the Allied invasion of Normandy, the city of Brest was heavily bombed by Allied forces during the Battle for Brest. Only a few buildings were left standing.

8. The Château de Brest — a castle on the eastern bank of the Penfeld River in the heart of the city– was one of the few structures to survive WWII bombing. Today it houses a Maritime Museum dedicated to French naval history over the centuries.

9. The Tour Tanguy — a 14th century tower across the river from the castle — is the only other significant building in Brest that survived World War II. Today this tower houses a museum with a series of diaromas showing what the city of Brest looked like before the Second World War.

10. Today Brest is best known as the home of the France’s second largest naval base — the Brest Arsenal— located on the city’s northern edge. The base houses the Brest Naval Training Center.

11. Brest is home to one of Europe’s largest aquariums — the Oceanopolis Ocean Discovery Park. Divided into three pavilions — tropical, temperate, and polar — with more than 1 million gallons of sea water and 77 aquariums, the Oceanopolis provides an introduction to 1,000 marine species from around the world.

12. Launched in 2016, Le Téléphérique is a 1,500 ft.-long urban cable car built for everyday commuting in Brest. The cable car wisks riders across the Penfeld river in 3 minutes, linking the city center of Brest to the ‘Plateau des Capucins’ area. It is open every day from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m and can carry up to 1,850 passengers per day.

Learn more about the World War II in Brest, France:

From Beachhead to Brittany: The 29th Infantry Division at Brest, August-September 1944

Have you been to Brest, France? What fun fact can you add to this list?

One more random fact: Brest has been a sister city with Denver, Colorado since 1948.

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