Elle va au Havre or Elle va a Le Havre?

Question

She's going to Le Havre -> Elle va au Havre. I put Elle va a Le Havre.I was in the town hall in "Le Broc" yesterday, and the sign said "La mairie de Le Broc". Are you sure you've got this rule right? Following this train it would be "Elle va a Le Broc", not "Elle va au Broc". However I did notice that there were somes signs in the town saying e.g. "Carroserie xx du Broc", so it seems like there's some ambiguity here. I would assume the town hall would be correct?

Accepted Answer

This is an odd one, Patrick, and I agree with Chris that you should take it up with the mayor of Le Broc himself/herself.
I suspect that it may be because Le Broc is much less known than Le Havre.
I can confirm that La Mairie du Havre is correct as in the following page -
https://www.cada.fr/mairie-du-havre
Bonne Continuation !

Answer

As far as I know, the article of place names DOES contract with the preceding à. This seems to be contrary to the sign you saw at the town hall, though. Maybe ask the mayor? ;)))

I think you're right in assuming that there is some wiggleroom in this rule stated in the lesson.

Answer

@chris and @cecile. Thanks for responding. Le Broc is actually in the department of Broc which might explain the "...du Broc" signs. I don't know if it's relevant, but Le Broc is a medieval town and maybe it's left over from that time. I will definitely ask the mayor about it next time I'm there :-)  it's a really lovely little town in the foothills above Nice, and I can highly recommend a visit. https://www.lebroc.fr/

Answer

@chris and @cecile. Thanks for responding. Le Broc is actually in the department of Broc which might explain the "...du Broc" signs. I don't know if it's relevant, but Le Broc is a medieval town and maybe it's left over from that time. I will definitely ask the mayor about it next time I'm there :-)  it's a really lovely little town in the foothills above Nice, and I can highly recommend a visit. https://www.lebroc.fr/