Andrew Threlfall hops over the channel to discover the secret delights behind the sleek modern architecture of Le Havre
If you’re a famous European city with an image problem, and Pete Doherty has famously moved in with the locals, what to do?
The next 1,000 words will hopefully reveal the key to the reinvention of Le Havre.
But let’s get there first. Britany Ferries run an improved service from Portsmouth these day, with some fabulous special offers if you’re lucky. Sadly, most people don’t hang around too long when they arrive in Le Havre, preferring to head south, deeper into France. First impressions of this port city can be aesthetically awkward, slightly lacking the famed French chic. Parts of this area of Normandy were rebuilt after it was destroyed by the Allies trying to extinguish the Nazi grip. But love is also often thankfully in the eye of the beholder and spotting the hidden gems is what this city is all about.
It helps that I’m staying at the charming old-fashioned four star Hôtel Vent d’Ouest across the road from quite possibly the most stunning church in Europe. More of that later.
I head inland (did I mention I’m 10 minutes from a pebbly beach) up Avenue Foch, towards the 17th district to see the first architectural gem, “Appartement témoin”, basically a preserved 1950s flat. Great if you want to see how literal French kitchen sink drama – filmed in black and white of course – was played out in the post war years. For an entrecôte and frites based lunch I nip to the equally untouched never-aged restaurant Le Funiculaire. A lot of meat is served per helping so perhaps go on an empty stomach. Beautiful local ciders re-line the stomach and are also a big theme here.
I’m a huge fan of architect Oscar Niemeyer’s work having reviewed it at length in his native Brazil, so a visit to Le Volcan for his library makeover is a joy especially as it reminds me of how this most celebrated of communist architects turned Modernism into a tropical carnival. In the capital city of Brasília the curves aren’t just structural—they’re a moving samba in concrete.
Now that may have been Oscar playing at Tropical Modernism birthed in the fiery crucible of mid-20th-century decolonization, but brutalism followed and the movement blended the minimalism of modernism with the rhythms of tropical life. And in this library in the heart of rebuilt Le Havre, the concrete is literally breathing, giving life to students, both formally and literally.
On through the Saint-François district, the defiant “Un été au Havre” district before a visit to the magnificent Le Havre Océane Stadium, looking like a fluorescent blue spaceship from the train tracks.
Architects Luc Delamain and Maxime Barbier, of the famous SCAU studio started building in mid-July 2010, at a relatively low total cost of 80 million euros. The construct is 31 meters high, covered in a blue polymère outside envelope spanning 32,500m2 in size. The stadium produces its own electricity and the matches happen on 10,736m2 of natural lawn reinforced by synthetic fibres. The executive boxes even double up as a hotel! Magnifique!
29,000 HAC fans come here to cheer on the League Une club with the fascinating English heritage formed as result of an Oxbridge visit, arriving to start the sport up in France. This is the oldest club in the country and they honour that heritage playing in the hues of Oxford and Cambridge blues. So much so that connoisseur of all things Albion Pete Doherty rolls up with season tickets regularly.
Dinner on my first evening is at the sensational restaurant Les Enfants Sages and both the duck and seared tuna dishes were exceptional. It’s dark lighting so thankfully problematic for instagrammers struggling to get their pics. A good thing.
You cannot come to this part of France and not partake in smelly cheese tasting at Halles Centrales hosted by the engaging Fromagerie Chez Fabrice indoors at 4 Place des Halles Centrales. Washed down with complementary calvados this is a communion with the dark forces of the cheese world, and a truly unmissable treat well worth a handful of euros.
Floating somewhat by now, I take in an afternoon visit to MuMa (Museum of Modern Art) and perhaps it was the calvados, but those Monet sketches really do come alive.
To walk off the cheese I head to the hills overlooking the port city, notably visiting the stunning enclave of Sainte-Adresse, where the Chapel of Notre-Dame des Flots and the Pain de Sucre dominate from above, followed by the adventurous Jardins Suspendus, a mini Kew Gardens no less. A perfect picnic spot if that’s your thing.
Fish and chips or rather cod and pototo gratin at the restaurant Taverne Paillette (you’ll be delighted to also go for the set menu at 35€ including the Quiberon oysters, renowned for their quality and iodized flavour) served by multi lingual, perfect English speaking staff prepares me for the two hour train back to Gare du Nord and onwards.
But before I leave, I head back to the place of worship in this city. Not because I am religious. I’m not. But Saint Joseph’s is surely the greatest example of modern architecture in Europe. If you love the Barbican, brutalism, etc…this is YOUR place. It is almost indescribably beautiful. Using all those elements. Now as a former editor of a national newspaper, I’m not normally one for Trip Advisor but the understated architecture and peaceful light make it a place where beauty shines through simplicity. “Crazy brutalist architecture from outside, astonishingly monumental from inside! MUST SEE!” Huge tower with colourful glass windows.” Is pretty damn close.
In essence this city really needed St. Joseph’s Church in Le Havre to stand as a powerful symbol of resilience and remembrance. Built between 1951 and 1958, it was designed by Auguste Perret as part of the city’s post-WWII reconstruction, honouring the 5,000 civilians who lost their lives in the very streets surrounding the church. From beneath the 107-meter tower, looking up reveals an intricate blend of Neo-Gothic elements and stunningly employed modernist concrete. Perret’s design transforms and renders the interior into a solemn, spiritual space, where the soaring tower feels like you’re inside a spacecraft. The walls shimmer on a sunny day, lined with stained glass filtering light into a shifting tapestry of colours. This tower serves as a beacon for the city and a visual guide to ships at sea and is simply unforgettable as was this hidden gem of a city.
Discover more about what Le Havre has to offer on the Normandy Tourism website here
Images courtesy Normandy Tourism
From the top:
© Marie-Anaïs Thierry,
© Alexandre Lelouey | © V. Joannon
© Marie-Anaïs Thierry
©Thomas Le Floc’H
