É T R E T A T rocks

Happy November!

With less than a year to live in Germany, we are feeling some urgency to check things off our list.

Normandy was a big one.

We feel so blessed to have been able to go while my mom was here in September.

As with every other trip we have taken here, we were not one bit disappointed.

All we were missing was Justin.
In planning any itinerary, I like to see what is around the area we want to visit. For this trip, we decided to first drive north of the beaches of Normandy beginning our trip at a place called Etretat.

Driving from our house to this beach off France was six hours. We hit the road at 4am, arriving just after 10am.

The area between LeHavre and Cherbourg are all of the Normandy beaches.

We started a little north and made our way down the coast going through Caen and Bayeux.

It was so, so beautiful. Even in September. I think we have decided we almost prefer traveling on the off season not just for lower prices but avoiding the crowds is really, really nice.

Parking was easy and there were just a few scattered visitors- just our style.

Really, it was the best possible time to be on the coast of France with our toes in the English Channel.

According to Wikipedia,  Étretat is best known for its cliffs, including three natural arches and the pointed "needle". 

These cliffs and the associated resort beach attracted artists including Eugène Boudin, Gustave Courbet and Claude Monet. Above are a few Monet paintings I found online.

So close to Normandy, we had to go!

The cliffs were definitely impressive.
Even more exciting was the beach with tumbled rocks- each as smooth as if individually polished.

Every single rock- smooth and perfect.

Not a piece of tumbled ocean glass.

Not a single shell.

Simply rocks. Millions and millions of rocks.

As with every other body of water {large or small}, we had to keep Coleman at bay.
He is a  magnet for water- it does not matter how cold it is.

If he had a swimsuit on, he would have taken a swim with the elderly couple we watched jump in.
Crazy Europeans.

I'm not sure there anywhere in this world more peaceful and calming than on the shores of a beach. Any beach.

The smells.
The sounds.

The view.

A smile this big on the face of our little teddy bear makes a mama so happy.