Lillebonne.—Small town in a pretty valley; Roman theatre; castle, thirteenth century, with slight remains of the Norman predecessor, in which the Conqueror held his council for the invasion of England.
Caudebec-en-Caux.—Extremely picturesque old town on the Seine; streets full of old timber houses and a rich flavour of medievalism. Church commenced in 1426; exceedingly rich in sculpture; magnificent spire.
St. Wandrille.—Ruins of a Norman abbey in a beautiful valley.
Jumièges.—Stately ruins of the Norman abbey church; museum in the abbey grounds.
St. Martin Boscherville.—A picturesquely situated village on sloping ground, with a great church built in the eleventh century; it is considered the finest and most complete Norman church in France.
In spite of the fact that Havre is a port of such magnitude, and that its tonnage approximates to a quarter of that possessed by France, one is dependent on the state of the tide for disembarking a car when, after the night crossing, one finds the ship tied up to the Grand Quai.
Instead of the ranges of dock-sheds and the giant cranes of Southampton, the ship seems to be lying along the side of a second-rate French street, and one looks in vain for the great steel arm that should silently let down a hook to lift the car like a toy from the ship’s lower deck. So if the tide should be low, one must wait until the deck is level with the quay—a delay more often than otherwise a boon to a party adjusting itself and its luggage for a long tour.
Although Havre is an infant port when compared to Marseilles, with its founding by the Greeks, there are things worth remembering about the place. When Rollo with his Norsemen in their black-sailed ships hovered at the mouth of the Seine in preparation for their attack upon Rouen, there was no Havre, and it was not until six centuries had passed that François I. gave the order to Guillon le Roy, the Commandant of Harfleur, on the opposite shore of the estuary of the Seine, to construct a port for great ships, owing to the necessity for an ocean seaport after the discovery of America. In 1514 the making of the port began, and its growth has been continued up to the present day.
Town Plan No. 1—Havre.