Wednesday, April 08, 2015

L'Etretat

Tuesday morning we had to head home to Germany. But on the way we stopped to see the cliffs at L'Etretat.
It was a beautiful day for a walk along the pebble beach.  From where we stood, this was the view looking left.

And this was the view looking to the right.


We climbed up the left-side cliff for a while, but didn't go all the way to the top.  There are no guardrails or really anything to keep you from plunging to your death.  The kids were warned ferociously to hold hands and stick to the path, but I confess, as we climbed higher and higher I felt more and more ill, and Rob agreed we should probably head back down.


The waves have beaten away at the base of the cliffs and created these overhangs. The tide was low and so we walked out to explore.


I told Charlotte to smile for a selfie with mom, but she was more nervous here below the cliffs than she was up above them.

To quote Charlotte, "nature is soooo awesome!"

  

We just about got the whole family in this shot at one of the safer lookout points- you have to look closely behind Rob's head to see Amelie.

 Overall northern France was a wonderful, too short, trip.  We didn't make it up to the Normandy beaches or to Rouen (martyrdom place of Joan of Arc and Monet's cathedral series of paintings) and I would have especially liked to go to Monet's home in Giverny- but it doesn't open for visitors until May and was waaaay out of our way anyway.  Driving in France is pretty stressful, and expensive.  The tolls are constant and the scenery pretty, but all very similar (rural farmland.) The kids were good, but with eight or more hours each way.... well, we are super glad we went, but we won't be in a hurry to do another driving tour of France anytime soon.

1 comment:

Mandy Benton said...

Wow Julie, that is totally a heart attack waiting to happen! Those cliffs!!!! No way!! But, the cliffs and beach reminds me of that book we read, All the Light You Cannot See. I am glad you went and your kids are awesome for hanging in there!