The city of Le Havre is getting ready for Christmas. The annual Christmas decorations of the City Hall (=Mairie) are done… and as usual, they are very nice. Little elves running around (robots), moving and doing things.

Hundreds of children are gathered around these windows to admire the decorations. They’re coming in via busloads.

Here is the Grande Armada parade sailing schedule for the last day, 16 June 2019.

Every few years, world’s biggest (and not so big) tall sailing ships sail into France and head for the city of Rouen. These massive multi-mast sail ships from yesteryears, though many are new, are a sight to be seen. Slow moving, majestic, beautiful and full of grace. It is one of the most visited and […]

Although billed as the end of the 500 years celebrations of Le Havre, this is an event that occurs every two years, so on its own, a regular event. The Transat Jacques Vabre is a sailboat race from Le Havre non-stop to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Created in 1993 (in those days it went from […]

A taste of what will be happening on the 3rd of September. For the 500 years celebration of the city of Le Havre, some 50 tall ships will be gathering starting on the 31st of August. On the 3rd of September, Sunday, all of them will be leaving the harbour, one after the other, and […]

One of the main events of the 500 years celebrations of Le Havre was going to be the parade of Giants produced by the Royal de Luxe. Although the company is based in Nantes, the appearance of the first giant was here in Le Havre back in 1993. This year, two giants would be visiting […]

Jace, born in Le Havre, is quite an internationally famous street artist. His character, Gouzou, can be found on walls and other places around the world. It’s therefore no surprise that Jace worked on doing something special for the 500 years celebration of the city of Le Havre…   Jace spray painted 51 masterpieces around […]

Continuing its 500 year celebrations in style, and using the latest technology, the city of Le Havre has installed its first two 360° VR (Virtual Reality) terminals for the visiting public. Le Havre is the second city (after Paris) to use these high-tech visitor tools supplied by upstart TimeScope.   The terminals look like they […]

2017 is a very special year for the harbour city of Le Havre in Normandy. 500 years earlier, the French King Francois I ordered a city and its associated harbour to be built at the mouth of the Seine river. It took a legion of Dutch engineers to dry out the swamps for it to […]

Yes, I’ll be entering this nuclear submarine. Is that enough of a hint? So, where am I?

If you are into cycling, as a family, in a group or as a hardcore cyclist, France is slowly turning many roads into bicycle only roads. One of these very long cycle paths is called the La Velo Francette and it links the Normandy harbour of Ouistreham (the ferry harbour of the city of Caen) to […]

To celebrate the 500 years anniversary of Le Havre, the Tall Ships Regatta race will finish in Le Havre this year. The race starts in the United Kingdom mid-April, and via Portugal, Caribbean, Boston and Canada, will end in the French harbour city on August the 31st. All these enormous tall sail ships will then […]

Many people I have spoken with (or received emails from) find visiting a top restaurant, in this case a 3-Michelin star restaurant (the highest accolade you can get as a restaurant), daunting. Daunting for what goes on, and daunting for the money you need to fork out (pun intended). As for the financial aspect, it’s true! Top […]

It’s an usual sight, seeing a Search & Rescue helicopter training so close to land. But here’s a quick video I shot doing exactly that. At the beach of Le Havre, a SAR helicopter was lowering a diver into the water to pickup a “drowning” person, and then lifting both back into the helicopter. This […]

The Lascaux cave art is famous the world over and is part of the UNESCO Heritage Sites. Discovered by a teenage boy chasing his dog, the enormous cave complex in the Dordogne region of Southern France uncovered a vast gallery of cave art dating back some 20,000 years. The caves were discovered in 1940, and in […]

It’s that time of the year again… Christmas and the holiday season. While it’s freezing cold out there, and even during the nighttime, you will see these folks out: The skatepark despite the icy cold and nighttime was still occupied. You got to respect these folks who do their stuff no matter the weather. The […]

This statue was taken in the city I’ll be writing about next. It’s next to an enormous religious building (a building that’s worth a detour to see). Anyone recognise it? You known where this was taken??? Related PostsGuess which city I’m visiting now – no cigar for best guessI’m visiting this city for the next […]

You know, one of those military vehicles. Used a bit during World War II, but still drivable. Interested?? Not more traffic problems with one of these bad boys… The “Normandy Tank Museum” has gone out of business (thank you terrorists, may you rot in hell), and they are selling all their vehicles in an auction. […]

The world famous statue “The Kiss”, made after the more famous photo taken at the end of World War II, is leaving the Caen WWII Memorial for Belgium. The famous and enormous statue has been placed in front of the Caen memorial for over a year, and will leave the city towards October. So this […]

Anyone guess…. It’s a museum!

I’m visiting this city for the next 2 days, hoping to bring you many photos and visit ideas. Can you tell from the photo which city I am in. It’s easy…I think (guesses can be left in the comment box below). Related PostsThis is in the next city I’ll be writing about. Guess where..This statue […]

You may have noticed that the site has gone very quite. On May 1st, I had a very bad accident (no, not riding a motorcycle) and have been in and out of hospital since then. I have been immobilised since then with only one working arm/hand. It’s going to take at least 2 months for […]

This is the first (actually, the second) sign that spring is here. First came the beach restaurants, all installed and serving food since 2 weeks. This weekend the second sign was there: the famous beach huts that are seen all over France’s beaches are being put down and installed by their eager owners. Once the beach […]

Can you guess it now???