Photo : Jörg Braukmann / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Plage d’Etretat
Étretat beach, in the Seine-Maritime, on the Alabaster Coast, is a pebble beach of about a kilometre, nestled in the hollow of a valleuse and framed by the Falaise d'Aval to the west and the Falaise d'Amont to the east. It offers views over the Channel and these chalk cliffs, between Le Havre and Fécamp.
Its history merges with that of the nineteenth-century sea-bathing, a period when Étretat became a seaside resort prized by the aristocracy; the beauty of the site also inspired writers and painters.
The Falaise d'Aval is pierced by the Porte d'Aval, about 45 metres high, and extends in the Aiguille, a rocky pinnacle. At the top of the Falaise d'Amont, a monument pays tribute to the aviators Nungesser and Coli, who attempted the Atlantic crossing in 1927. The foot of the Falaise d'Aval can be walked only at low tide.
