Seeming to defy gravity, two arches formed from colorful containers that look like childish building bricks catch the eye. This monumental work by Vincent Ganivet, entitled La Catène de containers, appeared in 2017 on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the port. A link between the city center and the maritime area, it is also the symbol of the new breath of modernity in Le Havre, ranked in the top 10 coastal cities where life is good. It deserves much more than to be restricted to its maritime activities.
A listed architecture
©Philippe Breard
If the Second World War and the Allied bombings gave it the label of the most destroyed large city in France, the post-war period made it a new field of experimentation for the architect Auguste Perret, chosen to rebuild its center . He used reinforced concrete following a new technique of widely spaced posts supporting the beams and the slabs, which enabled him to create in series sections of walls which it then sufficed to assemble on site. Inside, the apartments have been designed to be the most modern for their time, as you can discover by visiting one of them, refurnished for the occasion. With its innovative heating system, its kitchen which overlooks the living room, its blue armchairs, its radio, the first washing machines… nostalgia is guaranteed!
Almost all built according to this principle, the buildings are aligned along streets redesigned in a very straight way. Unique in its kind and leaving no one indifferent, the result allowed the city to win a classification on the UNESCO World Heritage List. For an overview, go up to the terrace at the top of the town hall. On the wall, observe the plans of the different eras before looking down. As you leave, take a look at the pediment, with the motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, the artist Mathieu Mercier has added twelve new words including “creativity, curiosity and sensitivity”.
Your steps will then take you to the Saint-Joseph church, recognizable by its octagonal lantern tower 107 meters high. Also designed by the architect Auguste Perret, it was completed after his death. Inside, the gray concrete is illuminated with the shimmering shades of 12,768 colored glasses whose reflections change according to the sunlight. A special atmosphere, which inspired the artist Isabelle Cornaro. For the summer, it has covered part of the bay windows of the station with tinted facets, which come to vibrate on the outer forecourt and the inner hall.
Take the time to taste the atmosphere of the shopping streets of Le Havre. You cannot miss the white volcano imagined by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer on the square dedicated to him. Dare to push the door, you will find on one side, a room of the national theater scene and, on the other, a superb media library, ideal for taking the time to take a break while watching a magazine or a film. Thanks to a skilful white wall, the site, seen from the Arthotel, takes on the shape of a dove.
©Alexandre Rety
Unmissable places of culture
©Alexandre Rety
The summer temperatures may make you want to go paddle boarding or laze on the downtown beach where small multicolored striped bathing huts are lined up. But if the heat is too stifling, take refuge in the museum of modern art, the MuMa. The glass and steel building faces the sea. Its huge bay window allows visitors to create a dialogue between this outdoor landscape, which has attracted many painters, and the works inside. The permanent collection does justice to the Impressionists like Monet, Pissaro, Degas or Renoir and presents the largest collection of works by Honfleur’s Eugène Boudin. Until September 24, the temporary exhibition Albert Marquet in Normandy highlights the landscapes of the area that the painter discovered thanks to the artist Raoul Dufy, a native of the country.
Another exhibition-event is making headlines at the moment. Entitled Slavery, Norman memories, it is spread over the three cities of Rouen, Honfleur and Le Havre. For the first time, the question of the slave trade in Normandy is addressed. At the Hôtel Dubocage museum in Bléville, this former residence of the navigator and trader of the same name and his historian and naturalist son, everyone can discover the journey of people deported and reduced to slavery, the organization of the economic and commercial system of the Atlantic slave trade and the debates it gave rise to.
To take your mind off things, take to the skies by taking the ficelle, the little nickname given to the funicular that connects the lower town to rue Félix-Faure on the coast. Returned to service in 1946, it is 343 meters long with a drop of 78 meters. It will take you to the hanging gardens whose 17 hectares of greenery also include collection greenhouses. Take out your camera, here the views are magnificent over the port, the city and the bay of the Seine.
Practical notebook
Where to have lunch?
At Les Fauves restaurant, located in the MuMa museum, ask for a table near the bay window, facing the sea. Bistro menu, starter-main course menu: €22.
Where to snack?
©Jean-Paul Calvet
At the Les Frites beach hut in Victor, since 1927, that is three generations. Taste their crisps! For homemade ice cream, look for the Ortiz truck, another institution that parks near the Montgeon forest and the container ark.
Or sleep ?
A stone’s throw from the Saint-Joseph church, at the Vent d’Ouest hotel, from €125 for two. 4 rue de Caligny.
Good plan
The Museum Pass (€20) offers, for one year, unlimited access to the exhibitions of the MuMa, the Graville Abbey Museum, the Shipowner’s House, the Dubocage hotel in Bléville, the apartment Perret as well as the greenhouses of the Hanging Gardens.
Festival A summer in Le Havre, until September 17, 8 ephemeral works of art join the 15 installations visible all year round. www.uneteauhavre.fr
To prepare your trip
www.lehavre-etretat-tourisme.com
Julie BOUCHER
#Havre #openair #architecture
