The Alabaster coast

Leave Honfleur by coach for the excursion to the Alabaster Coast, classified as a Natura 2000 site since 2009. This trip will be your chance to discover the natural heritage of the Pays de Caux and the Seine estuary. We will pass by Le Havre. The high cliffs of white chalk and stone beaches were popularised by the paintings of Claude Monet. The suspended valleys of the little coastal rivers, the Normandy bridge and Etretat, sights not to be missed bordering a coast that you will see in a fresh light after this trip. Marvel at the beauty of the Alabaster Coast and the diversity of its plant and animal life. Stop at Etretat. Once a fishing village, Etretat transformed itself into a seaside resort in the 19th century and became a place of inspiration for artists (Gustave Courbet, Eugène Boudin and Claude Monet), writers (Gustave Flaubert and Guy de Maupassant, Maurice Leblanc) and famous people (J. Michelet, F. Faure, the Queens of Spain, J. Bonaparte...). Etretat was the holiday spot of numerous famous opera composers and singers of the 19th century who had villas there or stayed there regularly in a comic-opera decor. The town has several remarkable chateaus, manor houses and villas, such as the Manoir de la Salamandre (a house admired by tourists and located in the main street near the hall), The Clos Lupin and the Château des Aygues which were the seaside residences of the Spanish queens Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies and Isabel II. Return by coach to Honfleur.

PLEASE NOTE

• The order of the visits can change.
• Times are approximate.
• Good walking shoes are recommended. There is a 20min-walk between the parking lot and the cliffs (to and from).
• The stop in Etretat depends on suitable weather conditions.