Once a small fishing town, Etretat is now a famous town
because of its white cliffs, regions most famous rock formation needle, chalk
formation, natural arches, and the famous GR-21 long distance hiking path which
passes through here. It’s situated north-east of port city Le Havre. Again the
route D-940 passes through here on the way down to Le Havre. As I mentioned on
my earlier blog (Cap Blanc-Nez) about the spectacular route D-940 which brings
you all the way down here is full of intriguing towns, spots, places and the
never ending views. Traveling with bicycle also gave me an incredible advantage
of seeing this beautiful north-west part of France and its amazing spots even
close up.
Etretat and its white cliffs. This was the west side of Etretat. It was rather a warmer day and I couldn't help, but start swimming. Especially right after riding my bicycle hours and hours just to get here. Photo: F.Aksoy-Aug-2013
This is the east side of Etretat. Of course you can hike up to the top and enjoy the view of the entire Etretat.
Photo: F.Aksoy- Aug-2013
Alabaster Coast which is an 80 mile stretch between Dieppe
and Etretat is situated in upper Normandy. And
of course there is the famous
town of Fecamp known with its high chalky cliffs between Dieppe and Etretat. And
some of these white chalk cliffs reach up to 120 meters at places. Well, this
whole stretch has so many white cliffs and in reality, I was hesitating how
long to stay and where, what and how long. Entire area was intense and
different which I became so infatuated with its physical beauty that I camped
out in the open every night for 4 nights sleeping with the waves sound right
next to me. I loved breathing that fresh air and the wind which was hitting me lightly.
No one bothered me at the spot where I was sleeping. I felt safe and
comfortable with my 0-Fahrenheit degree sleeping bag and air-therm-a-rest
sleeping pads extremely light in weight rests on the grass with my bicycle
locked up next to me while watching the waves coming down and hitting the shore
and its cliffs. Of course it wasn't the
same spot where I slept every night. I slept one night in Dieppe, two nights in
Fecamp and its surroundings then one night in Etretat before heading down to
the city of La Havre. Every morning I would walk to a local French bakery and
would fall in love with that smell inside the bakery. It would be very hard to
make a decision what to eat and what to buy. There were so many baking goods to
choose from. And at nights I would go to café order seafood, try a glass of various
French wines and then have a nice cup of coffee or a cup of tea watching the
waves with an intense pleasure.
This is the film I captured from my headcam. I put this video on my Youtube actually. I was still on the road and about to approach to Etretat I began filming it on my bicycle. You can clearly see the town of Etretat and the west side as well as east side of the beach and white cliffs. Video: F.Aksoy-Aug-2013
I can see so many people in their camper vans and cars coming from England, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and some Scandinavian
countries. I ended up meeting with so
many people from different parts of the world here in Alabaster coast and
before I knew I made several friends. Over the decades or I should say that I've been friendly and
warm with others. This led me to meet with so many people from different countries
and helped me to learn their cultures. Since my teen years the more I learned
about the world, people and their cultures, the more I wanted to learn. And it
was always this intense desire that I had/have to see the entire world with
details. I’d have to explain the details of this subject later in a different
blog. But now back to Etretat area.
My loyal bicycle waits for me to make a decision to choose my destination. Of course it was Dieppe as I continued to adventure north-west France. Photo: F.Aksoy-Aug-2013
Etretat used to
be a simple fishing village with its famous oysters, but later becoming one of
the most visited sites for its natural beauty of cliffs. It was always a major
curiosity for me to find out how these cliffs turned out to be white. Alabaster
coast refers to chalky white cliffs, but when examined and analyzed later, it
was salty rust. And the bruises of erosion brought by the heavy waves and relentless
assault of sea, rain and gale-force winds battering these cliffs. Because of
these strong physical forces which have been hitting on the cliffs of Etretat
for so long, these cliffs has become fragile. And this is the reason Etretat’s
needle rock and gateway arches are surviving ruins of perished cliff. Erosion
is still a reality here and yet, we may see more perishing cliffs.
When you arrive at
Etretat’s village and its shores, you will notice pebble beach right away and
either end of the beach, you will see the white cliffs. These two cliffs are
called Falaise d’Aval and Falaise d’Amont. You’ll see them much better from
these photos that I took and the video I filmed from my headcam.
I’m not trying to exaggerate, overestimate or brag about one
of France’s most interesting corners in its map: north-west section. However,
this beautiful part of France and the route D-940 is one of the must see spots
of the world. This destination offer many coastal and inland spots with many
attractions. North-west part of France is less crowded with hardly any population;
it’s quiet and peaceful which even makes it more attractive to its visitors.
Thought Bretagne(Brittany) and Pays de la Loire, both are
also regions which are located north-west France, and which I’ve been to,
however on this blog I’m mostly concentrating regions of Nord pas-de-Calais,
Haute Normandie(Upper Normandy) Basse Normandie(Lower Normandy). All the way up
north from Belgium border, Dunkirk, Calais then following the beautiful route
D940 to Cap Blanc-Nez, Boulonge-Sur-Mer, Reserve Naturale La baie de la Canche,
Etaples, Le Crotoy, Criel-Sur-Mer, Dieppe, Fecamp, Etretat to the city of Le
Havre. Then following the coast-line from Honfleur to World War II Normandy
landing beaches: Sword Beach, Juno Beach, Gold Beach, Omaha Beach and Utah
Beach. Of course I had to pay my respect to all these warriors who died very
young during the amphibious landing. And now their graves are located at various
locations in Normandy: American military
cemetery in Colleville-Sur-Mer, British military cemetery in Bayeux and German
military cemetery in La Cambe. Then who can forget Le Mont Saint-Michel which
is part of the UNESCO list of “world heritage site” and France’s most visited monument
site after Paris. I will discuss this area with its beautiful photos on my
other blogs which will cover Normandy amphibious landings and also the Mont
Saint-Michel castle in separate blogs.
Again, this is the video I captured from my headcam while on the road with my bicycle. This is north-west of France. Actually when going downhill with this German trekking bicycle Kalkhoff you can reach up to 65 km an hour. North-west was full of hills, up and down up and down. This video is also on my youtube. Video: F.Aksoy-Aug-2013
I just couldn’t get enough of north-west France. There were
so much to do, so many points of interest and places to discover that I thought
I should stay and spend a year in this region. But I just didn’t have that much
time to spare. Although there were many hills on this fabulous route D-940, and
in this region, still it was an ideal voyage for bicycle and I loved every
minute of it. Many people are not aware of the stiff hills D940 route has and
some think this area is a flat region. But in reality, it’s the opposite; this
area consists of many hills.
Normandy region also has ferryboat accesses from and to
England up to 4 locations: ports of Cherbourg, Caen, La Havre and Dieppe. The mix
of spectacular coast-line later becomes sandy beaches and even several resorts.
Then inland there are so many thousands of charming farms which includes Apple
orchards and dairy farms. Produce goods: Cheese, apples, pork, seafood and
duck. Not to mention its physical beauty with forest, wooded hills, white
cliffs. This region also produces calvados: a distilled cider or apple brandy.
Despite the fact agriculture, tourism and industry has been
the most important part of this region’s economy; nevertheless, because of this
region’s long coastline and its many rivers, fishing is one of the many major
income sources. And this area specializes in many seafood dishes. Region of
north-west is also known by its other meat products: Lamb, chicken, duck and
ham. But I can’t forget the recommendations of the French north-west government
which lets us know some of their unique delicious regional specialty dishes: Shellfish,
crustaceans, lobsters, mussels, crab and others such as oysters, scallops and
crayfish. According to their recommendations, Seafood is basically laid on a
bed of ice and seaweed then served with a light white wine called Muscadet,
fresh rye bread and butter. Shellfish also can be served in a beurre blanc
sauce made from butter, wine, and shallots. Because I was bicycling Europe
during this trip, usually I would buy food from super markets, local bakeries
or farms then camp out to prepare my food. However, at least three times a week
I would eat out and I was able to stop at various towns and locations to taste
some of these specialties and, yes, I was really impressed by their style of
cooking, serving and not to mention the view from these outdoor cafes were
intense.
West side of Etretat again I came closer by swimming on a warm day. Photo:F.Aksoy-Aug-2013
The route D940 from Calais to La Havre and other routes from
upper Normandy all the way down to Mont-Saint-Michel lower Normandy have so
many scenic views that take my attention from riding my bicycle. I do take my
eyes off very often to watch this beautiful point of interests which are very distractive.
My bicycle trip to 7 countries in Europe took me about 10 weeks to complete it.
And I spent two weeks of these 10 weeks right here in north-west France. When I
return back from my trip, many told me that was too much time to spend in
north-west France. I simply told them “You do not know what you are missing”
East side of Etretat once again. Photo: F.Aksoy
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