Ètretat

Watertravel and Waterside Destinations masthead

-Normandy Coast

-- Dieppe

-- Le Tréport

-- Ètretat

-----Hotels

-- Gold Beach

-- Sword Beach

-- Juno Beach

-- Watertravel Home Page

Scenes of Ètretat, including stony beach and the rock that looks like an elephant with its trunk in the sea.

Etretat may not have a river mouth forming a natural harbor — as do Dieppe, Le Havre and Le Tréport — but it does have some fascinating rock formations. Writing in Un Vie, Guy de Maupassant described La Porte d’Aval as “... a rock of curious shape, rounded, with gaps in it looking something like an immense elephant with its trunk in the water; it was the little port of Ètretat.” Having no harbor, Ètretat is a port for beachable boats only. The elephant description was fitting, though, for the famous rock formations which also are represented in paintings by Monet.

Another of Ètretat’s outstanding features is manmade: the Hôtel La Résidence. Built in the 14th century, its ancient facade has been preserved while the rooms have been brought up to date with modern plumbing, etc.