Camping Abijune, Le Tilleul, Etretat

Saturday 25th April

 A beautiful day in Etretat today.  There don't seem to be any buses around these parts, so we needed to drive into Etretat even though it is just 3k away, because we were going to need the energy to walk once there.  Parking wasn't easy as all the carparks had height barriers, but we found the Aire de Camping-Cars a fair walk inland, but flat and walkable to the seafront.  It's a very scenic beach with the huge cliffs either side and arch formations into the sea. 

The last building with scaffolding and covers was where we had lunch!  Lot of work going on outside and above, but the restaurant was lovely inside!

This was a noticeboard along the prom. A Monet painting and explanation below.

Food - in the Homard Bleu. Mine is chicken and John's is fish.  He also managed a cheese board after!  I had an ice cream later on.

After that substatial lunch, we had the energy to climb the many steps up to the top of the cliff to the little chapel.  We needed plenty of stops on the way, but got there ....

 

The sun was quite hazy up there, but the views amazing.

This is the monument behind the chapel pointing out to sea, replacing an original one that was destroyed in WW2, to two men attempting the first non-stop flight from Paris to New York in the 1920s, but who disappeared soon after crossing the coast at Etretat, their bodies or plane never found.  That's little me standing beside it!

 

 I'm now standing behind the monument.

 There is a garden to visit at the top here, but we didn't do any more climbing, but could see a bit of it over the hedge as we walked down the road (instead of the steps).

Yes, there was a land train up and down, but we did it the hard way!