Le Havre, France

The city of Le Havre is located at the entrance to the River Seine and is a major transit port for ships and cargo bound for Paris. Crossing the river Seine into Normandy is the beautiful red “Pont de Normandie” or “Bridge of Normandy”. Le Havre is also used in the sense of "port". The city was first called Franciscopolis, in homage to King Francis I, who took the initiative to construct the city, in addition to Le Havre (or Le Hable) de Grâce, the latter term being derived from the chapel Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, which existed on the site before the city's founding. The cultural roots of the French go back to the Celtic Gauls, who were conquered by Julius Caesar in 51 B.C. Five years later, Clovis extended Frankish rule over much of Europe; and after Charlemagne's death in 814, France became one of the successor kingdoms. France developed into the strongest of the unified Continental monarchies (as opposed to Germany and Italy, which were unified later). The French Revolution (1789-1793) overthrew the monarchy, and established the First Republic. Napoleon ruled over the First Empire (1804-1815), and successive governments led to the existing Fifth Republic (1958-present). The population of France is 56 million. Urbanization occurred after World War II, and now cities are home to 75 percent of the people. Paris has 8.7 million; the other important centers (Lyon, Marseille, and Lille) have under 1.5 million. Growing areas are Lyon, Grenoble (in the Alps), and the southern coast (Toulouse, Montpellier, Nice). A modern city, with tall blocks of apartment houses and large, pleasant squares, Le Havre, unlike some French towns has changed radically since it was created in the 16th century by Francois I. In 1945, at the end of World War II, Le Havre laid in ruins; it had the unfortunate distinction of being the worst-damaged port, after having been the target of more than 170 bombings. After an amazing recovery, Le Havre is now one of France's major Atlantic ports, second largest after Marseille, and takes up half the Seine estuary, extending far further than the town. Today, the largest container ships and oil tankers afloat can now dock there easily. There is plenty to see in Le Havre and its surrounding areas. If you drive out to the Le Havre Lighthouse, you'll have a good view of the port, the "Flower Coast," and an estuary of the Seine. The Église St-Joseph, on the boulevard Francois, has a bell tower nearly 350 feet high and is the tallest building made of reinforced concrete in the country. From the top of the tower, visitors can enjoy a lovely view of Le Havre. The Musee des Beaux-Arts is one of the best designed art galleries in the country, with works by Boudin, Corot, Courbet, Monet and Dufy, a native of Le Havre.