Perched on the right bank of the River Seine in the Haute-Normandie region of France, the city of Le Havre looks out over the English Channel and is the most populated community in the area. The port here is second only to that of Marseilles with respect to traffic volume, so the Pont de Normandie was built to connect the two banks of the Seine and reduce travel time.

Naturally separated in two places by a large cliff, Le Havre is comprised of the ville basse (lower city) and the ville haute (upper city). Originally constructed on ancient marshlands that were drained in the 16th century, the city centre had to be reconstructed after World War II and still stands on nearly a meter of flattened rubble. Despite this destruction, Le Havre offers visitors an enormous variety of historic buildings and museums, most notably the Le Havre Cathedral, the Church of St. Joseph, the Musee des Beaux-Arts and the Graville Abbey, which is set into the grounds on the northern bank of the Seine.