Rémy Callot, Carvin, Nord (62)

Rémy Callot was born in 1926 in Oignie into a working-class family. At the age of fourteen his forearm was blown away by a grenade he was playing with. He became interested in ceramics, travelled around the world immersing himself in different cultures and learned to speak Chinese. In 1966 he bought a property in Carvin, with a concrete exterior surrounding the house. On retirement in the late 1980s he began work on the exterior with these mosaics. He died in 2001 and his property went to seed. The town hall bought the property in 2006, collecting as many objects as it could before necessarily destroying it.

Art brut (Outsider Art) and associated:
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Rémy Callot, Carvin (Nord)
Carine Fol (ed.): L'Art brut en question | Outsider Art in Question
Kevin Duffy, Ashton-in-Makerfield
The Art Brut of Léopold Truc, Cabrières d'Avignon (34)
Le Musée Extraordinaire de Georges Mazoyer, Ansouis (34)
Le Facteur Cheval's Palais Idéal, Hauterives (26)
The Little Chapel, Guernsey
Museum of Appalachia, Norris, Clinton, Tennessee
Ed Leedskalnin in Homestead, Florida
La Fabuloserie, Dicy, Yonne (89)
Street Art City, Lurcy-Lévis, Allier (03)
The Outsider Art of Jean Linard, Neuvy-deux-Clochers (18)
Jean Bertholle, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Jean-Pierre Schetz, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Jules Damloup, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Camille Vidal, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Pascal Verbena, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
The Art of Theodore Major
Edward Gorey's Yarmouth Port, Cape Cod, MA
Marcel Vinsard in Pontcharra, Isère (38)
Vincent Capt: Écrivainer : La langue morcelée de Samuel Daiber
The Amazing World of Danielle Jacqui, Roquevaire (13)
Alphonse Gurlie, Maisonneuve (07)
Univers du poète ferrailleur, Lizio, Morbihan
Les Rochers sculptés de L'Abbé Fouré, Rothéneuf, Saint-Malo
Robert Tatin in Cossé-le-Vivien, Mayenne
René Raoul's Jardin de pierre in Pléhédel, Côtes d'Armor
La Demeure du Chaos, Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, Rhône (69)
Emmanuel Arredondo in Varennes Vauzelles, Nièvre (58)
Musée de la Luna Rossa (revisited), Caen, Calvados (14)
La Fontaine de Château-Chinon, Nièvre (58)

Casimir Delavigne, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

Casimir Delavigne (1793-1843), born in Le Havre, poet and dramatist, outside the Palais de justice, Le Havre.

Berdardin de Saint Pierre, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

Berdardin de Saint Pierre's statue outside the Palais de Justice, Le Havre.

Nude, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

Just off the Boulevard Foch and in front of the Square Saint Roch, this superb sculpture is called L'Été  and is by the sculptor Bernard Mougin.

Jules Durand in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

A tribute to the anarchist and trade unionist docker Jules Druand (1880-1926), of the 'quai de charbon', who was unjustly accused of the death of a 'scab' and condemned to life imprisonment in 1910. A worldwide campaign demanded his release, and in 1918 he was found innocent. But already devastated by the injustice, Durand died in an asylum near Rouen in 1926.

Promenade Littéraire #20: Maylis de Kerangal, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#20, Maylis de Kerangal, L'Université. Kerangal grew up in Le Havre and her novel Réparer les vivants (2004) is set in Le Havre and has several descriptions of the town. 

Promenade Littéraire #19: Émile Zola, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#19, Émile Zola (1840-1902), La Gare. The plot of Zola's La Bête humaine (1890) is set in Le Havre station. His protagonist is railway worker Jacques Lantier, who works the Paris-Le Havre line. Jean Renoir adapted the book into a film in 1938. Sartre liked this area, and in La Nausée Roquentin leaves 'Bouville' via the train.

Promenade Littéraire #18: The Docks, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#18, The Docks. The dock area is mentioned in several literary works dedicated to the union leader Jules Durand, probably most notably Boulevard Durand by Armand Salacrou (1960). Jean Rolin's Terminal Frigo (2005) traced the history of the dockers in several large ports, including Le Havre. The dock area is now given to commercial, educational and cultural purposes.

Promenade Littéraire #17: Henry Miller, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#17, Henry Miller, Saint-François. In Miller's novel Tropic of Cancer (1934) the protagonist arrives at the station in Le Havre. He climbs onto a horse-drawn cab to Saint-François, the site of most of the action in Le Havre in the book. He finds the place enchanting. Saint-François for a long time was the area of fishermen and brothels. This area is also the subject of a poem by Francis Carco and Pierre Mac Orlan's Quai des brumes, famously adapted into a Marcel Carné film with Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan. Émile Danoën wrote a book about this area: Une maison soufflée aux vents (1951). And let's not forget Kaurismäki's film Havre (2011).

Promenade Littéraire #16: Jean Dubuffet, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#16, Jean Dubuffet, Rue J-B  Eyriès. In Biographie au pas de course (2001) the painter and writer Dubuffet (1901-1985) mentions his childhood in Le Havre, the family business in the rues Juste Viel and Jean-Baptiste Eyriès. But he appears to have mixed feelings about the town, as noted in a letter to his friend Jacques Berne, a poet from Le Havre.

Promenade Littéraire #15: Various Writers, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#15, Various writers, Lycée François 1^er. In Guignol's Band Céline mentions his grandfather Auguste Destouches, who was professor of rhetoric at this school in the 1850s. Jean Dubuffet, Armand Salacrou, Raymond Queneau and Georges Limbour were pupils here in the 1920. Sartre and Raymond Aron taught philosophy in the 1930s. In La Nausée Roquentin does some research here. Pascal Quignard probably makes more references to the school than any writer, and he was at the school when it was still in ruins after the bombardments; his father taught there. The school was also part of Armand Frémont's memory of the town.

Promenade Littéraire #14: Honoré de Balzac, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#14, Honoré de Balzac (1903-1976), La Côte d'Ingouville. Balzac set the action of his novel Modeste Mignon (1844) in this former commune. He says Ingouville is to Le Havre what Montmartre is to Paris.

Promenade Littéraire #13: Raymond Queneau, Rue Casimir-Périer, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#13, Raymond Queneau (1903-1976), Rue Casimir-Périer. Queneau was born and grew up in Le Havre and his novel Un rude hiver (1939) is set in the town. Several scenes are set in a bookshop on this street, and the book also remembers his family haberdasher's on Rue Thiers.

Promenade Littéraire #12: Pascal Quignard, Hôtel de Ville, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#12, Pascal Quignard, Hôtel de Ville. Quignard spent part of his childhood in Le Havre, and has often mentioned the town in his writings and interviews. Le Nom sur le bout de la langue (1993) is one such book.

Promenade Littéraire #11: Michel Leiris, Place Perret, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#11, Michel Leiris (1901-1990), Le Havre bombardé. Leiris enjoyed going to Le Havre, and mentions it in several of his works. In L’Âge d’Homme (1945) he writes of the town after the bombings.

Promenade Littéraire #10: George Limbour, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#10, Georges Limbour (1900-1970), Bassin de Commerce. In his short story 'Le panorama' Limbour, writer and poet from Le Havre mentions Le bassin du Commerce as a meeting place for lovers.

Promenade Littéraire #9: Various Writers, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#9, various writers, Rue de Paris. This is one of the principal streets in Le Havre, and is mentioned by a number of writers, among them Maupassant in Pierre et Jean (1888), Céline in Voyou Paul. Brave Virginie (1959), Georges Simenon in Le Bilan Malétras (1948).

Promenade Littéraire #7: Stendhal, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#7 Stendhal, the former Tour François 1^er. Stendhal mentions this in Mémoires d'un touriste. His character contemplates the town from the tower, which stood at the entrance to the port until 1861.

Promenade Littéraire #6: Louis-Ferdinard Céline, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#6, Louis-Ferdinard Céline (1894-1961), Boulevard Clemenceau. Céline wrote a part of his novel Mort à crédit in the former Hôtel Frascati. In this book Auguste, inspired by Céline's father, comes from Le Havre and has a passion for boats.

We couldn't find the fifth bench on Boulevard Clemenceau, dedicated to Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) who set his novel Pierre et Jean in Le Havre.

Promenade Littéraire #4: Jean-Paul Sartre, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#4, Jean-Paul Sartre, Square Saint-Roch, Avenue Foch. Sartre (1905-1980) was teacher of philosophy at the lycée in Le  Havre from 1931-37. In 1931, in a letter to Simone de Beauvoir, he said that he'd decided to write 'Factum sur la contingence', which became his first novel La Nausée (1938). He called Le Havre Bouville. It is in watching one of the trees in the jardin publique that Roquentin was struck by a revelation.

Promenade Littéraire #3: Benoît Duteurtre, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#3, Benoît Duteurtre, Avenue Foch. In his novel L'Été 76 (2011) Duteurtre remembers his adolescence in Le Havre, when he discovered the beauty of the town reconstructed by architect Auguste Perret, the 'tours de la Porte d'Océane' at the end of Avenue Foch. Where previously he has seen banality, now he saw magnificence, and admired the bell tower of Saint-Joseph.

Promenade Littéraire #2: Gustave Flaubert, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

#2, Gustave Flaubert (1821-80), is also on Boulevard Albert 1^er. The quotation is from Bouvard et Péchuchet, the main characters who visit Le Havre and see the cliffs and the lighthouses of La Hève (destroyed in 1944).

Promenade Littéraire #1: Armand Salacrou, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

Throughout Le Havre there are twenty benches, part of the Promenade Littéraire (an expression displayed on the top left of each bench). Each bench has its number, and in the central area between the two seats are the details of a writer (occasionally number of writers) associated with the area, including a quotation. We found nineteen of these benches: on two occasions we tried to find the bench of Guy de Maupassant (#5) on the Boulevard Clemenceau, but with no success. We begin the literary walk with #1, on Boulevard Albert 1^er.

I took this rather eccentric shot of #1, the dramatist Armand Salacrou (1899-1989), to avoid the ugliness of the car behind the bench. This is opposite Salacrou's Villa Maritime, built by George Dufayel. The quotation given is from Salacrou's Dans la salle des pas perdus (1974). Many writers have mentioned the villa.

L'Église St Joseph and Auguste Perret, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

L'Église St Joseph was built after the destruction of the third church of the same name after the bombardments of the Second World War by the rebuilder of Le Havre, Auguste Perret. Perret wanted this to be not just a reconstruction but a spiritual lighthouse, a monument to the memory of those who died in the war. The concrete church took from October 1951 to October 1957 to be built, and Perret needed a woman to be responsible for designing the immense number of glass lights: that woman was Marguerite Huré, and L'Église St Joseph is a splendour to see. The actual ground space is small, but the height is dizzying.

Robert (Le Minihy) de La Villehervé, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

Robert (Le Minihy) de La Villehervé (1849-1919) was a journalist, dramatist, poet and writer. He worked as a journaliste for La Province in Le Havre from 1900 to 1912, was a Parnassian poet, and his complete works were published in twelve volumes. This bronze bust in the Square Saint-Roche, Le Havre, is a copy of Raoul Verlet's original made in 1921.

Le Cimetière de Sainte-Marie, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76): #3: Émile Renouf

Émile Renouf (1845-94), although born in Paris and spending some years in Honfleur, made Le Havre the centre of his studies as an artist and his work there. His grave has suffered much, and used to have a bust of the painter by G. Bénard.

Le Cimetière de Sainte-Marie, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76): #2: Adolphe d'Houdetot

Adolphe d'Houdetot (1799-1869) is mainly an author of works on hunting. Enough said.

Le Cimetière de Sainte-Marie, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76): #1: Octave Crémazie

Octave Crémazie (1827-79) is undoubtedly an important poet from the Canadian province of Québec. The bookshop his brother Joseph founded in 1833 was much enhanced by Octave's literary knowledge, and was for a time very notable in Québec city. On the note by his cenotaph in le cimetière Sainte-Marie we don't exactly get the full story: it says that the bookshop failed, that Crémazie went to France in exile in 1862 under the assumed name Jules Fontaine, but not that the bookshop failed largely due to Crémazie's wild extravangances, nor that he fled from Canada due to his fraudulent activities. In France he lived in poverty and died in Le Havre but was buried in obscure Ingouville with just a wooden cross as a grave. This cenotaph is the real tribute to his work.

L'Escalier de Montmorency, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

L'Escalier de Montmorency (which has 266 steps) is probably one of the best known sets of steps linking the upper part of the town to the lower: one of the ninety stairways in Le Havre. Near the top of the stairs is a bus stop named 'Escalier Roulant' after the lift that was once there. The moving staircase became financially unworkable and was closed down in 1987. Just over a year ago colour was added to it by the locals.

About halfway up I couldn't resist taking a shot of this piece of graffiti: 'MACRON CASSE TOI PAUVRE CON'. This in fact refers, famously, to Nicolas Sarkovsky using exactly the same phrase ('Casse-toi pauvre con') to someone who refused to shake his hand, and roughly means something like 'Macron, piss off you sad prat.' But then, I think that says far more about Sarko than the guy who merely refused to shake his hand.