I just bought tix (actually used ff miles for 1 ticket) for my husband and me for May, '05 for 10 days (!); plan to spend 3-4 in Paris, the rest in Normandy, where we've never been, except for Rouen. Anyway, I'm wondering where to spend one night before we drive farther west to the D-Day area; Honfleur and Etretat both look like places I'd like to visit. Anyone have opinions? Perhaps Etretat might be better for just a few hours, then on to spending the night in Honfleur? I'll probably be asking lots of questions about Normandy in the next few months. Thank you!

I love Honfleur. Stop in Trouvuille for lunch at the Brasserie Les Vapeurs., for the best Moules with creme. Trouville is between Honfleur and Deauville.

Etretat does not have the tourist-magnet "pizzazz" of Honfleur, but we enjoyed it greatly. See my previous posts on Villa Bligny, and an extraordinary restaurant (same ownewrship, if I recall correctly) - - something like "l'Huitriere".

And those cliffs - - still very awe-inspiring.

Best wishes,

Rex

I would visit Etretat and stay in Honfleur. Honfleur is a charming fishing village with some very interesting architecture. Be sure and check out the town church built entirely in wood by shipbuilders. Its downtown is compact and easy to walk through with many shops and restaurants.

Downtown Etretat on the other hand is rather plain. More like a anywhere France village. I dont recall anything of great interest in the downtown area. The cliffs are the main attraction there and they are spectacular and worth the trip.

Have a great trip!

One day I want to visit Etreta. Somehow I remember one Arsene Lupin episode that I read when I was a child, where a boy - Lupin's son ? - was inprisoned in "l'Aiguille Creuse" of Etretat.

The following is for a photo of Etretat I found the other day by chance (without l'aiguille creuse).

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/60829/photo17.html

Honfleur looked a nice port town to stay. I just stayed there for a few hours for lunch + a brief visit before heading for Houlgate where we had a hotel reservation, 10 years ago.

Stop and look around in Etretat, but stay in Honfleur and soak up the beauty of that little picturesque port.

Etretat is great for a visit and lunch on the beach, and afterwards a walk up the cliffs, but I agree, stay in Honfleur.

If you are interested, Fecamp is right up the road from Etretat, and you can tour their Monastery where they make the B&B.

I enjoyed staying in Etretat; it was low-key, and lovely to enjoy the beach early in the day, when you can have the entire place to oneself.

Stayed at a pleasant enough hotel & restaurant called Le Donjon; I'd stay there again.

We stayed in Honfleur.While quaint we were not impressed that the water view we had from the Ferme St. Simeon a very expensive hotel was ruined by a refinery in the distance.It was very disappointing. A short stop in Honfleur is ok but we wish we had stayed in Deauville.

We ate at St Simon but did not stay there the first visit. Found it too stuffy but it was fun eating besides the water where the atmosphere is casual and fun.
Kappa: There's a film out about, and titled by his name Arsène Lupin.
Also, A book I read has been translated to the screen, called The long Engagement, stars Audrey Tatou.

Thanks, all! Sounds as though Etretat (and Fecamp) is definitely worth the out-of-the-way trip but Honfleur would be the better place to stay overnight.

Would this make sense, time-wise: pick up car at CDG, drive to Les Andelys for an overnight; next day drive to Etretat,Fecamp for few hours, then over to Honfleur for the night?

Several questions: leave CDG at what hour? and go to les Andelys - - but not Giverny (or have you already been there before)?

A visit to Chateau Gaillard could easily take 2 hours, depending on how much you like to hike around this very moving and haunting site. And I think you would want to start no sooner than when the morning dew has mostly disappeared. In May, to get to Honfleur with full sunlight remaining, that leaves you say... 6 hours. You will fill that quite completely, in my opinion, with 1.5-2 hours at Fecamp and maybe just as much in Etretat - - plus your driving time.

It's a very packed day - - unless you are visiting Chateau Gaillard on the day you get TO les Andelys - - but do-able.

We have stayed over in both places but agree with those who suggest a visit to Etretat but an overnight in Honfleur.
It's really special to have some time in that charming town without the hoards that decend upon it from the tour buses.

We have returned to Honfleur 5 or 6 times and will continue to do so. We will probably never return to Etretat, though it was interesting to see once.

An overnight in Les Andelys would be a fine thing to do--we very much enjoyed our stay and found that an hour was enough time to see Château Gaillard and the village.

We had thought of visiting Etretat and Fécamp but decided that it would make for a pretty long day by the time we got there, spent some time (walking out to the cliffs is not a short jaunt), and then drove to Honfleur via Trouville and Deauville.

If you stay at Les Andelys you can visit assorted abbeys on your way toward the coast (especially Jumièges and Le Bec Hellouin) and have a good half day in Honfleur, which is well worth the time.

In Honfleur we stayed at the hotel L'Ecrin, a few blocks above the port and a pleasant spot. The owner is kind and helpful--I left a pricey scarf there, and he found it and sent it on to me without asking for any payment in advance.

Underhill, I'd like to hear your impression on renting car at CDG to begin this excursion; I know your report said it wasn't bad, but seems like folks on here (other threads) are recommending taking the train to Caen, then renting. We do not have a good history of picking up and returning cars, and therefore, tend to prefer to do it in smaller towns. However, we plan to do Paris at end of this trip and don't want to "waste time" going to Paris, then taking train north again. But might be better than having a hard time getting out of CDG in a rental! Any thoughts?

Rex, our flight gets in around 10:00 a.m.

Picking up the car at CDG was actually fairly straightforward. We had reserved ahead with AutoEurope, and the actual rental was with Europecar--it has a counter downstairs at Terminal 2. The cars are just out the back door in a large parking lot; access to the road is simple, and once on that you just head for the périphérique and Rouen. Most of the drive to Les Andelys is on the autoroute: no problems there. The drive to Les Andelys took about 2 hours, as I recall, with a quick stop for lunch along the autoroute.

Underhill, I'm focusing on your words "fairly straightforward" and "simple"! We'll probably rent thru AutoEurope, also, so it should be the same drill. Although, I think USAirways (IF still aloft!) flies into Terminal 1.

Thanks for the additional info; I've been using your trip reports for ideas!

We also always pick up our Eurocar at
CDG no matter what direction we are going. Just be sure before you leave the lot, you know how every little thing
works. How to work the windshield wipers should it rain and so on. These cars differ so much sometimes.

Good point,Mimi. I remember visiting my daughter when she spent her jr. year in France in 1990, and we rented a car that had a choke, something long gone in the USA. It took us a little while to figure that one out!

Grandmere,

You might consider doing what my husband did: go to expedia.com and pull up the maps for the area around CDG, then the more detailed ones--he printed them out for us to take with, and they were very helpful in navigating from CDG to the autoroute for Rouen. If you have any trouble finding them, let me know and I can have him get in touch with you.