Étretat is a commune within the Seine-Maritime department of the Normandy region of Northwestern France. The French pronunciation of Étretat is [etʁəta]. At the intersection of the D 940, D 11, and D 139 highways, it is a farming and tourism town located around 32 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Le Havre. It is situated on the Pays de Caux region’s shoreline. It had 1,291 residents as of 2017.
The Alabaster Coast owes its call to the one hundred forty km of chalk cliffs in the various Seine and Somme estuaries. The maximum picturesque of them are the cliffs of Etretat: they wonder with their verticality and gift a wild and particularly austere splendor.
The 140 km of chalky cliffs between the Seine estuary and the Somme estuary gave rise to the name Alabaster Coast. The three cliffs of Etretat—Aval, Amont, and Manneporte—are the most picturesque of them. The Grande Randonnée 21 trail directly traverses this area. The cliffs include naturally occurring arches with views of crystal-clear waters and pebble beaches. At the peak of the Aval cliff, there is an aperture called The Chambre des Demoiselles.
The cliffs
The chalk cliffs of Étretat are the most famous, and they include three naturally occurring Arches, and a pointed formation referred to as L’Aiguille or the Needle that stands 70 meters above the sea. The Turonian and Coniacian chalks that make up the Etretat Chalk Complex have a complicated stratigraphy. Some of the cliffs are 90 meters high (300 ft).
Artists including Claude Monet, Gustave Courbet, Charles Daubigny, and Eugène Boudin were drawn to these cliffs and the nearby resort beach. They performed a good-sized position in Maurice Leblanc’s 1909 Arsène Lupin novel The Hollow Needle.
Additionally, they appear in the Luc Besson-directed movie Lucy from 2014. The Porte d’Aval and the Porte d’Amont, two of the three renowned arches, are visible from the town. The third and largest, the Manneporte, is hidden from the view of the town. The Le Havre traverses the village to Le Tréport long-distance hiking trail (GR 21).
The White Bird at the cliffs of Etretat, France
The biplane known as The White Bird (L’Oiseau Blanc) was last spotted in France from Étretat in 1927. The first non-stop trip from Paris to New York City was attempted by French World War I heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli, but after taking off on May 8, 1927, the aircraft vanished over the Atlantic.
It is regarded as one of aviation’s greatest mysteries. In Étretat, a memorial commemorating the flight was built, but it was demolished by the Germans during the scend World War. In 1963, a brand-new, taller monument, as well as a nearby museum, were built.
Economy of cliffs of Etretat
The primary driver of Étretat’s economy is tourism, which provides residents with an expanding market. Kelp burning on the beaches boosted the economy during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The picture “Étretat” by George Inness clearly depicts the white smoke clouds by the sea (1875, Wadsworth Athenaeum). The iodine-from-kelp industry was dealt a significant blow in the late 1870s when iodine-rich mineral resources were discovered and developed in Chile around the same time.
Viewing the Cliffs at Etretat
The white cliffs and three unmanicured rock arches of Etretat, a well-liked day-trip location, are some of the most well-known views in France’s Upper Normandy. The two highlights of my trip to Normandy, France, were hiking and speed boating, which is two of the best ways to explore the alabaster stone cliffs at Etretat. You’ll capture some breathtaking images of the well-known Falaises Étretat.
The Etretat White Cliffs and Arches
The herbal arches that can be seen from the beachfront promenade and white shingle beach are what make the coastal motel city Etretat at the English Channel in the Seine-Maritime Department of Haute Normandie (Upper Normandy) well-known.
As it is a natural location, safety railings are few and far between; thus, caution should be exercised, especially while going with little children. Steep routes easily access the cliffs of Etretat.
The Best Two Ways to Viewing the Étretat Cliffs
- Take A Speed Boat Tour
- Easy Walk or Simple Hiker
For Falaise d’Aval, go around the golf course: You must take a boat or plane to see the Falaise d’Aval. All you can do is walk. From the town’s main beach, one could ascend by foot.
Walk Or Drive to Falaise d’Amont: Just to the north of Étretat lies the falaise d’Amont, which has the Porte d’Amont arch and the Chappelle Notre-Dame de la Garde atop it.
Literature and Art at Etretat,
Many French authors, including Victor Hugo, Gustave Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, and Claude Monet, as well as impressionist artists Gustave Courbet and Eugène-Louis Boudin, spent time working in Etretat. Wiktor Szostalo created a twig-based memorial to Monet in Les Jardins d’Étretat. Despite sounding strange, it’s actually very well done.
Town Center at the Etretat
The Etretat offers all the entertainment and trappings of an average French and Normandy coastal lodge. The antique city has some exceptional and unsightly homes – regularly side-by-aspect and a few adorable half-timbered homes decorated by way of neon symptoms.
Many eating places and vacation shops provide all demanded by day-trippers and holidaymakers at a coastal lodge. Prices may be in the direction of Parisian levels than rural Normandy on all objects, which include foods and drinks.
Park near Etretat
- Bénouville: Transient vehicle parks with symptoms and footpaths have been mounted to head from the center to the Aiguille de Belval.
- La Poterie-Cap-the Antifer: Parking is provided at the level of the city salon and pedestrianized and gets right of entry to ends in the lighthouse.
- Les Loges: Closure of the Valleuse d’Etigues vehicle park for safety motives.
- Parking masses and motorhome areas are dedicated and organized, particularly on campsites, in the municipalities of Saint-Jouin-Bruneval, Le Tilleul, Étretat, Les Loges, Yport, Fécamp and Bordeaux-Saint-Clair.
The best hotels of Etretat, france
- La villa 10 HÔTEL SPA
- La villa 10 HÔTEL SPA
- Hotel Le Rayon Vert
- Hotel Des Falaises
- Hotel La Résidence Manoir De La Salamandre
- Hotel d’Angleterre Etretat
- L’Escale
- La Taverne des Deux Augustins
- Detective Hotel
Water Sports in Etretat & Boat Tours
- Voiles et Galets the Etretat
- Aloha Etretat