As soon as I realized what Étretat was, I knew I had to make my way there this semester. You know those stock photos they have for the background of your laptop? The cliffs of Étretat are one of those images, and they are as breathtaking in person as they are on your computer.
Étretat is located along the coast of the Normandy region of
France. It’s a quiet and beautiful region, known especially for its delicious,
savory, creamy cuisine. Unfortunately, our tour bus hit some traffic, so we
only had about 2 hours available to explore. I wish we’d had the whole day to
hike and look around. However, from what I saw, Étretat is a sweet and charming sea-side
village with lots of great places to eat and shop.
We had been in Paris the last few months, so we ran to the
hills, as they say - quickly making our way to the beach and sitting down to enjoy
breathing in the sea air. The sound of the waves, the soft crush of the pebbly
sand under our shoes, the squawks of the birds – they made a wonderful change
to the hustle and bustle of the city. I think our little group exhaled many
collective sighs of relief, it was nice to take a break.
We made our way to the tops of the cliffs. The trail
was just next to the beach, past the remains of German bunkers from
their “Atlantic Wall” in the Second World War.
It felt like the gorgeous views would never end. Each time
we made our way over one cliff, the next one looked just as amazing.
It’s a bit difficult to get to Étretat if you don’t
have a car. There is no direct train from Paris. We took a tour bus through We Discover Paris. Although there were
some issues with the timing, overall the trip was well priced, and we were able
to explore Étretat and another city, Rouen, in one day.
There’s much more for me to explore in Étretat, and I can’t
wait to go back. If the views were spectacular in cloudy weather, I can’t wait to see them on a sunny day!
