Étretat and the Alabaster Coast

In 1909, Guy de Maupassant wrote in La Vie errante about scrambling up Étretat’s Porte d’Aval, decades before seaside crowds arrived. These chalk cliffs rise 70–90 meters, banded with flint—solid proof of ancient seabeds lifted by time. From Le Havre, the D940 strings together the Alabaster Coast: Cap d’Antifer, narrow valleys cut to the sea, hilltop churches, working lighthouses. Few realize that near low tide you can spot fleeting arches under La Manneporte, a spectacle that vanishes as the tide turns.

We collect you at your hotel in Le Havre and keep a Mercedes at your disposal all day, with timing shaped around swell, wind, and tides; you stroll and taste while your driver handles roads and parking. With a dedicated private chauffeur in Normandy, it’s about 45 minutes to Étretat, another 12 km to Cap d’Antifer’s wartime bunkers, then a 20‑minute detour to Yport for painted boats and the day’s catch. Want a picnic above the cliffs or a quiet seafood table out of the breeze? The plan flexes on the spot.