As part of its 500th anniversary celebrations, the staff of Le Havre Tourism took to the beach and wrote on the sand using pebbles: LH 500 ANS (Le Havre 500 Years).

According to the tourism office, the staff used 24,504 pebbles with the letters bring 1.3 meters tall.

Earlier this month, MSC Cruises’s new Meraviglia was christened in Le Havre.

The anniversary celebrations started in May and will through November.

Le Havre’s port was established in 1517 by King Francis 1 and has the capacity to host the largest cruise ships.

The port has 3 dedicated cruise berths and can accommodate up to 4 cruise ships.

Le Havre benefits from regular calls year-round from a broad range of cruise lines for transit and turnarounds. It is also a convenient repositioning ports to Northern Europe and the Baltic during spring, and the Mediterranean and the Caribbean in the fall.