After our arrival in Dieppe and a quiet night somewhere between Dieppe and Étretat, we set out to explore the cliffs of Étretat. They are close to the small village and since we are here in the off season and early in the morning, we can park right by the sea without any problems.

The Alabaster Coast of France

The Alabaster Coast, as the 140 km long cliffs are called because of the light calcareous rock, stretches between the mouth of the Seine and the Somme. The most famous and picturesque rock formations are the cliffs of Etretat: They surprise with their verticality and face a wild and somewhat austere beauty. Somehow a counterpart to the Jurassic coastline of England, from which we just came. Read our blog posts about the cliffs in Dover and the Jurassic Coast of England here.

We just can’t get enough of the white cliffs! Although we were able to visit such beautiful and impressive rock formations in England as well, we are fascinated all over again here. The most striking is probably the rock arch, which was washed out by the sea and bears the name Porte d’Aval. Here in Étretat we can not only look at the rock formation from below, but also experience it from above. A short walk and we are standing on the cliff and can walk over the rock arch. From here we also see into the adjacent bays which – it seems – are untouched, since they are only accessible from the sea, but not on foot.

Our itinerary quickly takes us another piece further south into France. And the next destination is a real highlight – stay tuned! The next blogpost will bring you closer to this next place!