In case
you are watching with amazing cliffs and breath – taking helicopter shots being
shown and wondering where this place is,
then you are probably looking at the Sea Cliffs at Etretat, France. Etretat is
a small time Haute – Normandie region which is located in the north – west of
France. The town is mainly dependant on farming and tourism. Etretat was once a
fishing town which has now started to focus on other aspects to increase their
financial stature. The breath – taking view of the beautiful seas from the high
cliffs makes Etretat a much preferred place for movie shoots. Some people even
call this small town as the “Director’s
delight” owing to the popularity the place has earned in the film makers’
circuit.
The French
town of Etretat contains three famous arches out of which two are seen from the
town namely Porte d’ Aval and the Porte d ‘Amont. The third one and the biggest
of the all, Manneporte is not visible from the town in spite of its magnanimous
stature. Apart from the three arches which have been mentioned there is also
the “needle”, which is as famous as the arches themselves. Standing alone in
the middle of the sea this cliff has its
name as it resembles a sharp needle. There are a lot of tourist resorts around the
cliffs and these resorts attract tourists and artists from around the world to
take a look at the beautiful high cliffs. Hiking is one of the famous tourist
activities in the town and the GR 21 hiking path passes through the town of
Etretat. The view of the church from the seashore is an absolute delight to the
human eyes.
One of
the places to visit in Etretat is the “trou a l’home” which means the “manhole”
in English. History reckons that the rough seas at Etretat threw a Swedish ship
against the cliffs thereby wrecking it completely. When the wreckage was
withdrawn after the high tides receded, the people saw a cave which revealed
the corpse of a man. It was later realized after the man was buried that the
man had only lost his consciousness but not his life. This incident led to the
opening of the c cave which provides access to the famous Jambourg Beach in
Etretat. But the tourism body allows the visit of tourists only during low
tides as the hole is visible during the time and not during the high tides
