Étretat

Étretat is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department of Normandy, a tourist and farming town about 32 kilometres north-east of Le Havre at the junction of the D 940, D 11 and D 139 roads. It sits on the coast of the Pays de Caux, and the chalk is the reason to come: the cliffs at either end of the beach have been cut by the sea into arches and a needle of rock, a formation painted repeatedly by Monet and Courbet. The clifftop paths on both sides of the town give the views, and the walking is short but genuinely steep.