“Le Havre, to live and to love” is the title of a short book written by Jean-Baptiste Gastinne (published by L’Echo des waves). The 1st deputy mayor of Le Havre confides there his love for the city of Le Havre discovered by the chances of a professional transfer in education. “_I was not immediately seduced. I did not fall in love with it. It took me a while to appreciate the city, to love it, and this time to love it and to appreciate it, so that my attachment to Le Havre is now very, very deep and absolutely irreversible “_explains the associate professor of history and geography.
There is a constant relationship between Le Havre and modernity. Jean-Baptiste Gastinne
“You only have to walk its streets to see that there is an extremely modern, extremely innovative contemporary architecture, which dates from the post-war period. But what is amazing is that it always has been. It was evidently at the time of its creation, in the 18th century, Italian architects were brought in. It was so in the 17th century when Vauban arrived in Le Havre and finally, very little was involved because all the work was done. It was done before. It was at the time of the French Revolution. It was evidently so in the 20th century and it was also so through its relationship with sport. In short, there is a constant relationship between Le Havre and modernity. ”
– Yves-René Tapon
Jean-Baptiste Gastinne also underlines the number of explorers who left the port of Le Havre over the centuries: “Verrazano is forgotten in history textbooks where, however, the period of the great discoveries is dealt with. We are obviously talking about Magellan. but that’s normal, we are talking about Amerigo Vespucci, Jacques Cartier, but we are not talking about Verrazano who nevertheless leaves to discover North America and seeks the passage. And he will discover the entire coast of the North American continent, 4,000 kilometers of coastline “.
It is truly a city of nature. Jean-Baptiste Gastinne
“We see Le Havre as a port, industrial, logistics city, a transport city, an important hub. And I try to surprise a little by saying that it’s not just that and that it is really a city of nature. where you constantly feel the elements of nature “.
– Yves-René Tapon
Jean-Baptiste Gastinne finally writes: “For more than five centuries the city of Le Havre has been fighting and it deserves to be fought for it”.