Étretat

The white chalk cliffs of Étretat — rising high above a grey pebble beach on Normandy's Alabaster Coast — drew Monet, Courbet, Boudin, Maupassant, and Flaubert in the 19th century, when this modest Seine-Maritime village transformed from a fishing settlement into a fashionable resort. Maurice Leblanc set his Arsène Lupin novel here, adding a literary dimension to the dramatic coastal scenery. The village has an unusually dense café and restaurant scene for its size, and the clifftop viewpoints remain among the most photographed on the French coast.

• Population1,658
• Nearest water from center 7.5 km4.7 mi
• Nearest mountain from center 34 km21 mi