Le Havre - UNESCO World Heritage site (by kerouac2)

[Deleted]

Even in France, many people thought that the choice of Le Havre as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005 was somewhat strange.

It was almost totally destroyed (80%) in 1944 by Allied bombings (mostly by the British with a little American participation), destroying about 12,000 homes and killing 5,000 people, most civilians. Of course, the important port was also destroyed as well as all of the German installations. All in all, what happened can be considered to have been necessary.

What makes Le Havre exceptional, and what caused UNESCO to honor it, is the greatest use of reinforced concrete in history to bring a city back to life. No, it is not a pretty place in terms of the classical concept of beauty that most of us have learned. But it went from a population of 164,000 in 1936 to 107,000 in 1946 and that still meant more than 100,000 people who needed a place to live after having lost everything.

I have passed through Le Havre briefly over the years without really visiting it. Since the ocean liners from New York docked there, I was actually there in 1954 when it was almost certainly still in ruins, as well as 1960 and 1964. But when you got off the ship, there was a train waiting on the dock, and it immediately took you straight to Paris -- no contact with the city at all.

I remember seeing Le Havre when I came on my first indepedent trip to Europe in 1971. I returned today and discovered a few blasts from the past as I saw some of the major rebuilt squares which I had found so ugly.

It is still possible to find the architecture of Le Havre ugly, and yet it seems like a completely liveable city. The concrete gave a haven ("havre") to the residents, and they have made it into a special place like no other in France. (Well, maybe except for Saint Dié, but that is another story.)

They painstakingly put most of the cathedral back together in its new concrete surroundings. It had been built in 1541.

Some of the stuff is hard or impossible to fix.

The French have always made a point of never filling the bullet holes in damaged monuments. They remain there to help you understand the past.

Inside, it was the usual Gothic cathedral, even of you could see that the columns and the ceiling were "recent".

Every now and then, I will light a candle in such places to honor all of my family members who lived through such events. I did so today.

It is never possible to fix everything. It is just too expensive.

I was somewhat amused at the principal suggestions regarding the saints to which one might want to make a specific supplication.

Really, some of these apartments seemed like they would be very nice places to live.

The covered arcades were not always visually appealing, but I am sure that they are much appreciated by the residents during the winter storms and rain.

Looking upwards, I was able to see certain changes that had been made over the years.

One of the main things on the central square is the monument to the war dead.

These are just the soldiers who died, not the civilians. All four sides are covered with names.

I knew I had to go and see this place, too. It is perhaps one of the most spectacular examples of concrete architecture ever built anywhere in the world.

It replaces a church that was bombed to dust in 1944.

I find the inside totally breathtaking in a completely different way from the masterpieces of classical architecture. This is the work of somebody recovering from the war and trying to make beauty from... reinforced concrete. Auguste Perret was a truly great man in my book.

You know what? I spent a grand total of TWO HOURS in Le Havre. Why am I always in such a hurry? It is the second port of France (after Marseille) and that is fascinating in itself. A lot of the old port installations (post 1944 of course) have been transformed into all sorts of fascinating things -- shopping malls, museums, cultural centers...

I'll try to go back one of these days.

[bixaorellana]

This is absolutely fascinating and really heartening.

I have to say I quite like the architectural look that was chosen. The third picture of the modern city, in particular, has an elegant French feel that looks to be a successful take on the buildings you've shown us around your neighborhood. That's really impressive, to be able to capture the spirit of something without actually reproducing the original.

I laughed a little at modern picture #5, wondering if you had a moment's confusion thinking you were on a Biloxi corner near the beach. Really, though, one of the most striking features of the place overall is the mellow look the buildings have.

The covered arcade reminded me of Uruapan, a city I like because it's in use by its residents, rather than something turned into oldedisneymexico for tourists.

The monument is beautiful and perfect -- with a feeling of marching forward from sadness and pain into the future.

But the church ............ the church just knocked me out! The somewhat moderne exterior doesn't prepare one for the brilliant feat of engineering married to beauty on the inside. The sheer, lofty, saturated gorgeousness of the stained glass clearly states a belief in a future where such a structure need not fear destruction.

[lagatta]

When I saw the title I was astonished too, as I've always considered Le Havre one of those postwar horrors like so many rebuilt towns in Germany. I have two friends from there who were in the Resistance as teenagers and are very old now. One lives here in Montréal in Outremont; he taught marine engineering in Rimouski, a stown in easter Québec where the river widens to become an arm of the sea.

Actually, a lot of those structures are in good shape: so many have become hideous slums. The tall church is extraordinary.

Have you been to Rotterdam? Actually, I find what you show here more harmonious: there is stunning modern architecture in Rotterdam but it doesn't always fit together.

Still, it will never replace what is lost.

[cruiser]

I just found this and I am amazed. I am taking a cruise that stops here in September and never thought there was anything to see.

[lola]

I so much admire the French love of beauty. Reinforced concrete apartment buildings, but with graceful lines. The church is stunning.

And in the fourth photo, that poor dear old soul with the umbrella.

[Deleted]

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27703724

[mossie]

We have reached a very notable date, 70th anniversary of D-Day, Yes, very little attention was paid to the suffering of the French population during the war. I can remember standing on the hill above our village watching our bombers bombing targets in the Calais, Cap Gris Nez area, and being shot down there.

Coming to Le Havre, my fathers eldest brother,(and my favourite uncle) was in France with the BEF in 1940 and came out via Le Havre. From there he was sent to Malta where he died in the German bombing.

[Deleted]

So, I returned to Le Havre with a better camera and may have even learned to hold it straight now.





"Le Volcan," the national theatre built by Oscar Niemeyer, has been renovated since my last trip.







I wandered into the concrete covered market on my way to see the amazing concrete church again.

[Deleted]

I wonder how often they use the spiral staircase.

[htmb]

Your new photos are wonderful. I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures. My father's ship was in port at Le Havre immediately after the invasion, so I've always considered it to be a place I'd like to visit.

[bixaorellana]

So beautiful and it was a real treat to revisit the whole thread. You really made the history real.

It is lovely to go back to such impressive places as, after a period of time, we see them "the same, but different". Also, I definitely understand wanting to see what you turn out with a better camera and more photographic experience.

[Deleted]

I continued to the small craft harbour a couple of blocks away and saw that it was ultra low tide.







Bigger boats were heading for the industrial zones.



The city's mostly pebble beach is also here.





mirage?







The local boat ramp was very generously proportioned. I have seen so many that aren't even usable as low tide.

[Deleted]

Le Havre has two tramway lines.





Auguste Perret's concrete grid continues to fascinate me.

[bjd]

I don't remember seeing this thread the first time, so thanks for adding to it and making me look at it. I had never thought of Le Havre as being worthy of a visit, but see I was totally wrong. It's really interesting as architecture because there was no attempt to make things look old and how they were previously but the city planners and architects used the reinforced concrete in a way to make the most of it. The church is really spectacular.

And the addition of greenery in the city, with the trees and lawns sort of softens the lines of the buildings but without taking away from their square lines. I think this style is called Brutalist.

[Deleted]

The city hall is another monument of concrete construction.





For me it is unusual to see fountains working in the winter. I suppose it never freezes in Le Havre.













I looked at the WW2 monument again. The big lists are for civilian deaths. The list of military deaths is much shorter.









It is directly across the street from "le Volcan."

[Deleted]

It was time to check into the hotel. I was thrilled to be staying in one of Auguste Perret's buildings. The hotel only opened recently and they decided to decorate the place completely in 1950's style. I was curious to see my room.

I had a balcony with chairs. A shame to be here in January!





The bathroom was huge, and I had not seen a bidet in a hotel in years.





Here are the stairs in the hallway.

I did not bring my camera to the breakfast room, but it was a complete time warp as well. The cold items were in a red streamline moderne refrigerator, and the silverware was in the silverware drawer of the buffet, just like at your grandmother's house. Music from the 1950's played softly in the background...

[bjd]

Wow! Mid-century modern.

[Deleted]

Back out on the street, I decided that I needed a better view of the port. I passed the old cathedral on the way but did not enter this time.



The clock still works.



Since the seafront was totally destroyed, it is one of the best areas to see the Perret concrete.















This is what most people in France imagine when they think of Le Havre.



It has one of the biggest oil refineries in France.



Frankly, I can find a certain austere beauty even in that on a sunny day.

[Deleted]

The Niobe was a cargo ship evacuating refugees from Le Havre. Unfortunately it was also carrying its cargo of munitions. It was attacked by German aviation, exploded and sank. The number of victims was estimated to be between 800 and 1200. 800 refugees boarded in Le Havre but apparently there ware already 300 to 400 Belgian and Dutch Jewish refugees on board. Since a number of these people were said to be diamond merchants, there has long been a legend about a treasure of diamonds on board. There is no reliable confirmation of this. The wreck was finally found in 2002 but has never been searched. (Where is James Cameron?) Anyway, this isn't much of a commemorative plaque.

I came across the MuMA - the Museum of Modern Art André Malraux. It was inaugurated in 1961 and was the first museum in France to be rebuilt after the war. The original museum was totally destroyed with the rest of the city. The paintings had been moved out and were saved, but the sculptures were left behind and were all lost. Clearly France felt that it owed Le Havre a special debt because money was still not flowing freely back then. And besides building the museum, it should be mentioned that the concrete church was the very first modern construction in France to be classified as a national monument.

For a building dating from 1961, I think it still looks pretty good (although it was renovated for its 50th anniversary in 2011.





I don't visit too many art museums these days (errr... because I live in Paris), but I did visit this one and liked it very much.





I'll try to make a report about it on the Maritime Museum branch before long.

[lugg]

Fascinating , I really had no knowledge of Le Havre other than it being an industrial port in Normandy. Your photos really bring alive the contrast between the exterior of the church and its much more colourful interior. In part the concrete buildings somewhat reminds me of much earlier buildings in Berlin

[Deleted]

Thanks to everybody for your kind comments so far. More photos on the way! I walked along the breakwater. The tide was coming in.





This commemrates the fact that the first CARE package ever sent to Europe after the war arrived in Le Havre.





In this area large new apartment complexes have been built facing the harbour.

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They are getting every ray of sunshine possible.

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The rocks of the breakwater look like they can handle most storms.

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Each of these flagpoles (no flags today) honors some of the major ports of the world.



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I had looped back to the city building which ensures that you are never lost since you can see it from everywhere else.





Since the sun was shining on the other side of the church now, I felt compelled to go inside again.











When you look at these windows from the outside, it is impossible imagine that they could be so impressive.

[bjd]

Interesting how the sun coming in through the orange panes of the window makes the concrete beams look like wood.

[Deleted]

I walked through the (small) pedestrian zone, which was not fantastic, but at least it exists.







Just like in Paris, when there is not a snowball's chance in hell of anybody wanting to sit outside, it is considered to be important to put the tables and chairs out anyway.



I decided to walk to Les Docks, a former maritime warehouse area that has been converted into a shopping mall.



I passed the concrete casino along the way.



I also passed the headquarters of one of the major shipping companies that has a zillion container ships around the globe.

And this is the 4th or 5th campus (I forget) of the prestigious Ecole Nationale Supérieure Maritime, which trains ship captains for the merchant marine. I looked at the website, and this building is designed like the interior of a ship with all of the pipes visible. It also contains a number of ship simulators just like the flight simulators for airline pilots.

Even if there are fewer lost English speakers than in the past, Le Havre still makes an effort to assist them.



Anyway I arrived at the Docks shopping mall.



One of the things that I liked the most was the preservation of the original bricks of the warehouse.

[bixaorellana]

I am assuming there will be more of this fascinating thread -- really looking forward to it.

What makes the architecture so pleasing is the generous use of windows. Even where there are no windows, a three-dimensional grid is imposed to give the illusion of space and lightness. It appears that all construction in the city picked up on the concept in one way or another, giving a subtle and entirely appropriate cohesiveness to the city. Then there is the pedestrian zone, where the curved or colored paving is whimsical enough to give a relaxed feeling to the area. The whole city has a friendly feel, I think.

[Deleted]

Other constructions have been added on the Docks warehouse, but the old structure still dominates.





The warehouse on the other side of the small basin has also been preserved and transformed into a performance venue.





The sun was about to go down, so I crossed the footbridge across the other basin (there are basins on both sides of Les Docks) to take the tramway.





Since I had walked all the way from the far side of the church, I did not particularly feel like walking all the way back to the other part of the city.



The tram station was right in front of the train station. It should also be noted that the majority of the hotels of Le Havre are also in this area.



Even though I was only going two (rather long) stops, I figured I'd better get a ticket. And I was glad I did because ticket checkers got on at the very next stop.



The closest stop to my hotel was back at the Hôtel de Ville.



Here is the 1950's reception area of the hotel. I had one last thing to do when leaving the city the following morning.

[Deleted]

Since I am an early riser, waiting for dawn at 8:30 a.m. at this time of year is a bit of a pain. I wanted to see the first place where I had set foot on French soil in 1954.



The comparatively 'hot' ocean was steaming in the icy air.



The old ocean liner terminal was demolished in the 1980's, but this is the place. I did my research!



This is the last vestige of the complex, scheduled for demolition soon.



This wall was built in 1947 as a protection for ocean liners during terrific coastal storms after a ship actually sank once after tearing loose from its moorings.





It was strange to be standing there and thinking of my various arrivals (and departures) at this dock in 1954, 1955, 1960, 1964 and 1965.



Now it is used for container ships. Cruise ships dock at a terminal across from the modern art museum. Maybe I will leave from here if I take a cargo ship.



I followed the road through endless docks and then on into the huge protected wetlands of the mouth of the Seine.



My next destination was on the other side of the Pont de Normandie. Goodbye, Le Havre. I'll be back.

[onlyMark]

Jan 21, 2017 6:28:05 GMT bjd said:

I think this style is called Brutalist.

I'm not an architect nor a student of one, but my idea of Brutalism is for buildings to be, well, brutal. These look a hell of a lot nicer than a concrete car park. It could still be in the same designation but I'm not sure. I'd certainly live in one of them.

The play of light in the church makes me think of inside the cathedral of Gaudi in Barcelona.
K2, the photo near the end that happens to show the Wok Grill, are there a lot of these in France now? They are all over Spain in slightly different forms but are very popular because of the sea food they serve.
I love the Accor chain of hotels by the way. Excellent places.

[bjd]

I'd certainly live in one of these apartment buildings too.

I just read a bit more about Brutalist architecture and indeed the term has been mixed-up lately with the word "brutal", although initially the use of concrete and plain architecture was partially a desire to build quickly after the destruction of WW2 and partly a reaction against light and over-decorated styles. Of course, Prince Charles didn't like it.

[breeze]

kerouac, you've made me so happy with this thread. Our first sight of France was the breakwater at Le Havre. When you started this, I went to the map to see where our ship might have docked all those years ago, and just where the narrow street was where I waited with our crate while E went to pick up our new VW and I couldn't pinpoint it. It was a small street lined with narrow houses, and for a while little boys played around me till they lost interest. When E came back with the car, they returned to watch us disassemble the crate with the only tools we had, the inadequate ones that came with the VW.

One of the first words I had to learn in France was "chantier" because we saw the word on signs everywhere. There was so much building going on. This was in 1969, so not immediately post-war. My lasting memory of Le Havre is the cranes everywhere, at least one per building site (that and at a restaurant seeing a dog at the next table with his own chair and his own bowl). But I pulled out my diary and was surprised to read that I thought "Le Havre is beautiful, with plane trees along broad streets, flowers in windows and around public buildings. Many new buildings that looked like apartments." I guess the brutalist architecture didn't register.

Once E is up, we both can look at your photo of the "last vestige" to see if it looks like the one we whizzed through. I've already talked myself into it, but his memory might be different.

[lagatta]

Brutalism comes from 'brut' and the style here has elements of that with the material used and the refusal to rebuild according to the old plan and destroyed building, but there is a classical elegance very different from some of the worst examples - and I've certainly seen stuff, not only in the UK, that can be used to prove Cholls has a point.

I do see a similarity to the Flemish beach towns that were rebuilt (along the Coastal Tram line) but I suppose that is inevitable given the similar geography and the same era. Cologne was rebuilt mostly in postwar-style (with some restored and largely rebuilt buildings, including the famous Cathedral, but using the old street plan.