With its extraordinary history and heritage, plus its strategic location, Normandy is one of the best-known regions in the world. It is a land of abundance and of contrasts, owing its reputation to its landscape and lights, time and again celebrated by painters and writers (Monet, Millet, Dufy, Flaubert, Maupassant, Victor Hugo and Maurice Leblanc to name but a few), to its exceptional landmarks (Mont Saint-Michel, Château-Gaillard, the cliffs of Etretat and so on), to its gentle lifestyle and to its fine local produce.
 
And not forgetting its cities! Apart from Normandy, what other region can boast as many world-famous towns and cities, whose names inspire such an array of positive images?
Deauville, Cabourg, Honfleur, Etretat, Lisieux, Bayeux, Rouen, Cherbourg, Giverny, Dieppe, Sainte-Mère Eglise…

And, of course, Le Havre! Le Havre, a modern city, outward-looking, bold, at the forefront of development and flying the flag high for Normandy.
 
The 500^th anniversary of Le Havre, one of the highlights on the Normandy calendar in 2017, is an opportunity to reassert the city’s energetic, innovative personality. Like Le Havre, Normandy has huge potential in terms of attractiveness and development: we have tremendous economic and touristic assets!
 
This exceptional anniversary is, once again, an opportunity to turn the spotlight on Normandy’s ability to stage international events, much to the delight of its inhabitants!

_{Photo © Thomas Jouanneau​}