Bienvenue au la Havre, France!

Le Havre is the busiest port on the northern French Coast and the largest container port in France. It is the second largest city in the Normandy region of France with total population of around 230,000. It was founded in 1517 by Francis I and called “Franciscopolis” to bypass the shallow and muddy harbours of Harfleur and Honfleur. It was later renamed Le Havre-de-Grace (Harbour of Grace). Despite the new infrastructure economic development was hampered by religious wars, conflicts with the English, epidemics, and storms. It was only from the end of the 18th century that Le Havre started growing and the port took off first with the slave trade then other international trade.

The city’s dynamic light directly inspired one of art history’s most famous movements. In 1872, local artist Claude Monet, pained the sunrise over the city’s harbour and industrial chimneys. He named it ‘Impression, Sunrise’; which a critic dismissively used to coin the term “Impressionism”.

Le Harve is located at the mouth of the Seine River, which has travelled 750km from the centre of France, and through its Capital, Paris; to Honfleur and then the Atlantic Ocean. It is the busiest Container port in France, and the second biggest overall after Marseilles in the south.

Our tour today revolved around the World War II History, as it specifically applied to the D-Day Landings along the coast here in Normandy. I cannot document the entire planning and execution of the proceedings as this is a blog afterall and not a history book. 2026 marked the 82nd Anniversary of the D-Day Landings – known as Operation Overlord. On 6th June Crown Princess actually held a Memorial Service to mark the occasion.

The Key to the success of the Normandy Landings was deception; misinformation was aimed towards the Germans that an invasion was planned further up the coast near Calais, this being the shortest distance between England and France. Much planning went into the real invasion on 6th June 1944, and the Germans had also fortitude the “Atlantic Wall” with mines, obstructions and snipers. At low tide, to avoid landing craft hitting the obstacles, 156,000 troops landed across the beaches; each was given a nickname in the planning. The Americans were arriving at Omaha Beach; still many were killed on their way up the beach. Ahead of the beach were cliffs that had to be climbed, and once at the top, there was direct ‘hand to hand’ fighting. Beyond the cliffs, the next endurance was to survive the hedgerows. German soldiers had been stationed in the area for several years, so they had the geographic advantages of knowing hiding spots amongst the hedgerows.

Despite the high casualty rate, troops did make it through the obstacles and Bayeux was the first city to be liberated. Much of the freight transported across the English Channel, consisted of an artificial harbour made up of pre-fabricated pieces to be assembled like a jigsaw. There were also floating bridges and stores for the stationed surviving troops.

Our first stop on the trip was to the Overlord D-Day Museum at Colleville-Sur-Mer. Here the story was told in graphic details with real tanks, artillery, and many small artifacts. There were mock-ups, audiovisual and storyboards to enhance the experience. 

After 90 minutes at the Museum, we continued on the coach to Port-en-Bessin-Huppain, a quaint Normandy fishing village; this was our lunch stop. We ate at one of the local restaurants; salmon terrine, followed by chicken in cream sauce with pasta and finishing with traditional Normandy Apple tart. On arrival, we were briefed that the village was known for its mussels and scallops, so it was a pity we had chicken. There was some free time to take in the village; it was very busy being Father’s Day, with many families enjoying the cafés and the sun.

Lunch was actually quite early by French standards, but this was fine, given our 7am start, and that the next venue we were going to, apparently gets very busy in the afternoons, so we would miss the height of the crowds. This was the American War Cemetery at Omaha Beach. 9389 American soldiers are buried here in this cemetery which amalgamated 11 previously scattered cemeteries into one focal place of reflection. The graves of known soldiers were marked either with a Cross, or ‘Star of David’, with an inscription of their name, date of death, rank and home state in USA. A central monument honours all those whose remains had not been recovered, although DNA technology has managed to, in more recent times, reunite some families with their fallen relatives.

The site was beautifully maintained, exceptionally serene, being a powerful and moving reminder of the price of war, both in the huge sacrifice of life, but also in reminding us of the freedoms we have today because of those sacrifices made by parts. The Cemetery was on the cliffs overlooking Omaha beach, so through gaps in the trees, you could see the beach and again, imagine the nightmare journey to get inland from there.

The final stop was down on Omaha Beach: it was almost surreal being beside sculptures and monuments honouring the importance of the location, which is now a ‘normal’ beach with families bathing, basking and playing – but these were amongst the very freedoms fought for 82 years ago.

Our route back to Le Havre took us through picturesque villages; we slowed down as we passed the Commonwealth War Cemeteries at Bayeux – there are 16 of them housing mainly British, Australian, New Zealand and South African troops, although were also graves representing almost every Commonwealth country. We skirted the outskirts of the city of Caen, before joining the Autoroute to Le Havre. Just prior to arriving back in Le Havre we crossed over the Seine River and Canal via the Bridge of Normandy, built in 1995 and taking the Autoroute some 50 metres overhead. 

Given that the landings started on 6th June, it is worth noting that Le Havre wasn’t liberated until 12th September. The Germans held on to it for a long time, due to it having the Harbour, but at the same time, before finally surrendering, they made things difficult for the incoming Allied forces, by destroying most of the infrastructure.

Following the end of the war, and those 1944 bombings, in which there were 20,000 civilian casualties, the firm of Auguste Perret began to rebuild the city in the current popular style, using an innovative ‘brutalist’ concrete design. He reimagined the city with clean lines, geometric forms and a sense of openness that still defines Le Havre today. In 2005, UNESCO inscribed the central city as a World Heritage Site because of this unique post-WWII reconstruction and its architecture.

Looking forward, we will see more examples of the sea defences of the Atlantic Wall, when we visit Holland…