Étretat beach, France, June 2019

Étretat beach, France, June 2019

Étretat is a small seaside resort, the white cliffs were painted by Impressionist painters back in the day.

The white cliffs remind me of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, by Ian Fleming, of James Bond fame.  One of my favorite books as a kid.  I didn't see the movie until much later and it is just ok.  In the book, the family leaves England in their flying car and lands on a French beach with white cliffs, totally here!

Yup, another rocky beach.

There is still some fishing and I bet that in August the beach will be full.

June mornings are a bit cool and cloudy.

Great place for Monet and his study of changing light conditions.

Also a place where the Germans put up defensive walls, the ruins of which are still visible.

Definitely worth it to hike up to the top.

Great view of the beach and town as you go up.

One person seems to have gotten the land to build a house up here.

Easy bridge out to the edge but maybe not if you are afraid of heights.

Further along the beach, more cliffs.  You can get there on the beach, just check the tides so you don't get stuck.

Enough folks climb around these it made sense to put in barriers

Inside the white chalk cliffs

Few more nice walkways to see it all.

Great view of the far side of the beach, where the tourist train goes.  The church is a tourist stop as is the memorial to The White Bird, a bi-plane trying for the first trans-Atlantic flight.  It disappeared, likely crashing near Maine just two weeks before Lindbergh achieved the feat.  The original monument was destroyed in WWII, I like the look of the more modern monument.

The Sun keeps trying to come out....

The Elephant is also over on that side of the beach.

Just as we finish our walk, the sun is finally breaking through.

Étretat, France, June 2019

Étretat, France, June 2019

Étretat: Detective hotel, Emma Peel room

While planning this trip, I left the middle section open to decide in the moment where to go.  So glad I did because we found the Detective Hotel in Étretat.  Each room is dedicated to a different detective:  Ms. Marple, NCIS, Columbo, Magnum PI, Poirot, etc.   

Not a hotel for everyone as there is no AC, no elevator, less fancy breakfast and not a ton of space in the room.  Exactly what we were looking for, something so unique you will never find a duplicate.

So good!!!  Full immersion into the theme, we had a record player, magazines and prints from the 60's.  Definitely a labor of love by the owners.


One room for Arsene Lupin, gentleman thief who foils bad guys worse than him.  (Side note, this is the 'grandfather' of Lupin III from Japanese manga fame, one of the most recognizable/classic characters in the genre.  Super old school!).  I hadn't heard of him, but now I will keep an eye out.

The town is a small seaside fishing village where Parisiennes vacation in August.  The tourist office has these super cute game-themed decorations outside.

There is a 'train' (bus disguised as a train which turns out to be super popular in tourist towns) to the important monument which we manage to miss a couple different ways.  Instead, we drive out into the countryside!

"In Flanders field the poppies grow"  This is that land.  We see reminders of the wars all over the place, but I didn't imagine we would see actual poppy fields...

Roadside shires are still popular here and great for finding your way back when you get to wandering.

I was the navigator.  As per my usual I got us a little lost.  I knew we wanted to see the channel up close, and on the map I saw a pier we could visit.

That's the pier...but we can't go onto it.

Turned out to be a bit more industrial than I imagined

But on the other side is a beach!

Too early in the season to be busy.

But super cute playground!

New equipment, a lovely set up, everything you could want in a beach.

Except sand.  This is also a rock beach.

Yup, all rocks all the time.  Does everyone just bring chairs?  Do they go into the water with water shoes?

Mysterious washed up mollusk?

But the cafe/bar is open!!

Never pass up an opportunity to try the local cider.

We definitely wandered around some small backroads and saw the locals up close and personal :)

Drive to the Coast, France, June 2019

France, June 2019, from Valenciennes to the coast

Amiens cathedral

Wednesday

We have a couple days before the next soccer match in Le Havre.  Seems like a good idea to spend some time on the coast.  Many great options along the way, we choose Amiens for lunch.

The waterways are surprising, feels like the clean version of Venice ;)  Lots of little bridges everywhere to get around the town.

Water features.

The cathedral is one that took hundreds of years to build. 

Pretty much exactly what I think a French cathedral looks like.

Extra creepy gargoyle.  I think that is a bonus face in the chest.

Screaming monkey?!?

This area has seen a lot of war.

Funky ornate clock

Lunch was our introduction to cider and buckwheat crepes at Crepiere Le Mangeoire. We didn't have the time to go in, but drove past the Jules Verne house.  Always a reason to go back!

Wind power everywhere on this drive.

We  want to get an idea of different parts of the coast so we stop briefly at Dieppe. The guide book says this large grassy area was Napoleon's children's playground/beach.

For sure a tourist stop, a couple of buses stop, people walk out on the beach and return.

But not many stick around. 

Maybe because it is not sunny?  It is the middle of the work week?  The beach is all rocks?

We don't stick around either.  Back in the car to get closer to our hotel.  We try to stop for dinner in Fecamp, but dinner does not start until 7 in any of the cool looking spots.  Dinner from a snack bar place with a bit of cider makes it all good.