Nouba Hilselberger, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

The self-taught Nouba Hilselberger sculpted this model of a musician with musical instrument, which is at the résidence Atahualpa, rue Salvador Allende, Le Havre. Unfortunately we didn't at the time know of Hilselberger's other sculpture, a tribute to Stendhal in rue Stendhal, Dollemard, Le Havre. Stendhal stayed at L'Hôtel de l'Amirauté in Dollemard in 1837 in a fine room on the second floor with a view of the port,  but hated the foreign tourists staying at the hotel. The huge chimney in his room had a cast iron plaque of the three Fates, which is now on the wall in the Archives Municipales in Le Havre in Fort de Tourneville, next to the Cimetière Sainte Marie.

Jules Tellier, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

Jules Tellier (1863-89) was a writer, poet and journalist born in Le Havre and died at the age of twenty-six in Toulouse. He spent many years teaching and, after a journey in Algeria and Spain, died of typhus. This monument, by Antoine Bourdelle in 1895, is in Parc Saint-Roch.

Boîte à lire, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (76)

The Boîte à lire in the Docks Vauban shopping centre, Le Havre. Anyone is allowed to either read a book in the centre or take it away, with no obligation to return it, as is usual. The difference is that they call these books 'Livres nomades' and affix a huge label with this name to each book. The way it works is that the Armand Salacrou library in Le Havre is the place to take your donations, and then they are changed into 'Livres Nomades'. As we'd already donated our read and/or unwanted books elsewhere, I took Claudie Gallay's Mon Amour ma vie and François Bégaudeau's Dans la diagonale.

Boîtes à lire:
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Boîte à Lire, Dicy, Nièvre
Boîte à lire, Maisons-Laffitte, Yvelines
Boîte à lire, Sorigny, Indre-et-Loire
Boîte à Lire, Jonzac, Charente-Maritime
Boîte à lire, La Roque-d'Anthéron, Bouches-du-Rhône
Boîte à Lire, Épineuil-le-Fleuriel, Cher
Boîte à lire, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône
Boîte à lire, East Markham, UK
Boîte à lire, La Folie Couvrechef, Caen, Calvados
Boîte à lire, Bergues, Nord
Boîte à lire, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime
Boîte à lire, Villerville, Calvados
Boîte à lire, Saint-Servan, Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine
Boîte à lire in Caen, Calvados
Boîte à Lire, Noyant d'Allier, Allier
Boîte à lire, Dampierre-en-Burly, Loiret
Boîte à lire, Illiers-Combray, Eure-et-Loir
Boîte à lire, Chartres, Eure-et-Loir
Boîte à lire, Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, Rhône

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.