Day 17,  Thursday, September 14, 2023

We are driving to Fécamp to see the cliffs and the English Channel and then to Étretat to see some famous stone arches.  On the way we see a truck full of some sort of root vegetable.  Then a bit further along the road we see long piles of this same crop.  Perhaps sweet potatoes?

Near Fécamp we find a lookout spot for the coast, and a beautiful spot for lunch.

There is an 11th century church here but it is closed as it needs restoration and is not safe to enter. We discover a semaphore station built in the early 1900’s on the same site as an old lighthouse built in the early 1800’s.  There are also more World War II bunkers here.  Not surprising since they were built all along the coast of France.  The three pillars were to hold radar equipment, but it was never installed, and there are several Tobruks,  or machine gun nests.One of several large bunkers.

This is a view of the cliffs in the other direction. They stretch as far as we can see.

We find parking in Étretat fairly close to the beach and we get our first glimpse of the stone arches this area is famous for. This is the Falaise d’Aval.

And this is the Falaise d’Amont. The cliffs are high and the beach consists of fairly large pebbles, no sand here.  Falaise means cliff or clifftop.

I find a spot to sit and sketch.  When I first started drawing a group of high school students arrived at the same rock I am sitting beside and their teacher gave them hammers so they could chip off pieces of this big rock I am leaning against.  Interesting, seeing as are signs say that the stones on the beach are protected and can not be removed.  Then there was a lot of commotion and screaming…a flock of  seagulls flying overhead pooped on many of the students!  I escaped such an indignity but my sketchbook was not so lucky.  Too funny…I gave the students a wet wipe to clean up and they were very grateful.

Here is the view…

…and here is my sketch.I have seen this view in so many paintings, and finally, here I am seeing it in person.

Monet painted many canvases here at Étretat and nearby Fécamp.