Etretat and Honfleur same day?

[SPacificbound]

We will be in Le Havre two separate days in May.

 

DH wants to tour Normandy one day and I would like to tour Etretat and Honfleur the other.

 

Is it possible to tour both Etretat and Honfleur on the same day? Any recommendations?

 

TIA :)

[Hlitner]

We have done it, but with our own rental car. We picked up our car in the morning and drove to Honfleur where we spent a few hours and had lunch. We than drove (in early afternoon) over to both Etretat and Fecamp. And finally back to LeHavre where we dropped the car. Keep in mind that DW and I have driven all over Europe (and France) so the driving was no big deal. We had also been to that region of France many times and were simply looking for something a bit different (although we had been to Honfleur several times). Since Honfleur (and Deauville) are the opposite direction (from Le Havre) as is Entretat you do have quite a bit of driving....although we love to drive the back roads of France.

 

Hank

[SPacificbound]

Thank you!

[LondonTowner]

We have also visited Etretat and Honfleur on the same day, but in our own car. Hardly any traffic once you are away from Le Harvre

[lamchops]

We did it in 2014. Here are my notes for the day.

 

Tuesday September 23

Our last port day began with a quick breakfast before picking up our Fiat Panda dockside for the day. I pre-ordered the car with GPS for $100eu from 8:00 to 7:30. It would have been cheaper to use Europcar but the 20 minute walk or $10eu cab ride were not worth the extra stress and savings. I had checked the excursions from the ship and decided to do 2 of the excursions on our own. We drove northwest to Etretat as it was also recommended by the rental clerk. It was a beautiful spot that reminded me of “Land’s End” in Cabo san Lucas. We climbed up to the top of one of the cliffs to look at the spectacular view. There was a golf course running next to the cliffs and would be an interesting course to play. We spent over an hour there before heading north to Fecamp for the Benedictine tour but when we got there we discovered that it was closed. We then decided to drive to Honfleur which is south of LeHavre. We missed that town the last time we were in LeHavre so I was looking forward to it. It was a beautiful seaside town that reminded me of a smaller version of Marseille. We stopped at a restaurant and had some mussels with fries as well as a ham & cheese crepe. We also saw a dedication to Samuel De Champlain who left from Honfleur to discover “New France”. We had a fruitful afternoon exploring the coast of France and decided to head back by 6:30.

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, and were featured prominently in the 1909 Arsène Lupin novel The Hollow Needle by Maurice Leblanc. Two of the three famous arches are seen from the town, the Porte d'Aval, and the Porte d'Amont. The Manneporte is the third and the biggest one, and cannot be seen from the town.

Bénédictine is an herbal liqueur beverage developed by Alexandre Le Grand in the 19th century and produced in France. It is claimed that at the Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy, monks had developed a medicinal aromatic herbal beverage which was produced until the abbey's devastation during the French Revolution, but in fact Alexandre Le Grand invented the recipe himself, helped by a local chemist, and he told this story to connect the liqueur with the city history to increase sales.

Honfleur is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. Its inhabitants are called Honfleurais. It is especially known for its old, beautiful picturesque port, characterized by its houses with slate-covered frontages, painted many times by artists, including in particular Gustave Courbet, Eugène Boudin, Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind, forming the école de Honfleur (Honfleur school) which contributed to the appearance of the Impressionist movement. The Sainte-Catherine church, which has a bell tower separate from the principal building, is the largest church made out of wood in France.

Samuel de Champlain was born on or before August 13, 1574 – December 25, 1635, "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608. He is important to Canadian history because he made the first accurate map of the coast and he helped establish the settlements

[SPacificbound]

We did it in 2014. Here are my notes for the day.

 

Tuesday September 23

Our last port day began with a quick breakfast before picking up our Fiat Panda dockside for the day. I pre-ordered the car with GPS for $100eu from 8:00 to 7:30. It would have been cheaper to use Europcar but the 20 minute walk or $10eu cab ride were not worth the extra stress and savings. I had checked the excursions from the ship and decided to do 2 of the excursions on our own. We drove northwest to Etretat as it was also recommended by the rental clerk. It was a beautiful spot that reminded me of “Land’s End” in Cabo san Lucas. We climbed up to the top of one of the cliffs to look at the spectacular view. There was a golf course running next to the cliffs and would be an interesting course to play. We spent over an hour there before heading north to Fecamp for the Benedictine tour but when we got there we discovered that it was closed. We then decided to drive to Honfleur which is south of LeHavre. We missed that town the last time we were in LeHavre so I was looking forward to it. It was a beautiful seaside town that reminded me of a smaller version of Marseille. We stopped at a restaurant and had some mussels with fries as well as a ham & cheese crepe. We also saw a dedication to Samuel De Champlain who left from Honfleur to discover “New France”. We had a fruitful afternoon exploring the coast of France and decided to head back by 6:30.

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, and were featured prominently in the 1909 Arsène Lupin novel The Hollow Needle by Maurice Leblanc. Two of the three famous arches are seen from the town, the Porte d'Aval, and the Porte d'Amont. The Manneporte is the third and the biggest one, and cannot be seen from the town.

Bénédictine is an herbal liqueur beverage developed by Alexandre Le Grand in the 19th century and produced in France. It is claimed that at the Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy, monks had developed a medicinal aromatic herbal beverage which was produced until the abbey's devastation during the French Revolution, but in fact Alexandre Le Grand invented the recipe himself, helped by a local chemist, and he told this story to connect the liqueur with the city history to increase sales.

Honfleur is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. Its inhabitants are called Honfleurais. It is especially known for its old, beautiful picturesque port, characterized by its houses with slate-covered frontages, painted many times by artists, including in particular Gustave Courbet, Eugène Boudin, Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind, forming the école de Honfleur (Honfleur school) which contributed to the appearance of the Impressionist movement. The Sainte-Catherine church, which has a bell tower separate from the principal building, is the largest church made out of wood in France.

Samuel de Champlain was born on or before August 13, 1574 – December 25, 1635, "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608. He is important to Canadian history because he made the first accurate map of the coast and he helped establish the settlements

 

Thanks for the info. What company did you order the car from?

[Hlitner]

Thanks for the info. What company did you order the car from?

 

We will jump in with a little info. Personally we like to look at both Europcar and Sixt...both of whom have offices just outside the port (about a 20 min walk from the pier). Another option is through Rentacar.FR who actually has a small office right in the port. But that agency does not always have the best prices and we have avoided them in the past because of their insurance options.

 

If you happen to be in Le Havre on a Sunday....this can be a real problem finding any rental agency that is open.

 

Hank

[lamchops]

Thanks for the info. What company did you order the car from?

 

We rented from Europcar the first time and used Rentacar the last time. Rentacar's office was dockside and I paid about $20eu more than if it was Europecar.

 

The first visit happened to be a Sunday and Europcar opened the office (2 hours) for cruisers and charged a Sunday premium of $40eu. They had us drop the car off at a local hotel. We then took a cab back to the ship as night had fallen.

[SPacificbound]

We will jump in with a little info. Personally we like to look at both Europcar and Sixt...both of whom have offices just outside the port (about a 20 min walk from the pier). Another option is through Rentacar.FR who actually has a small office right in the port. But that agency does not always have the best prices and we have avoided them in the past because of their insurance options.

 

If you happen to be in Le Havre on a Sunday....this can be a real problem finding any rental agency that is open.

 

Hank

 

We rented from Europcar the first time and used Rentacar the last time. Rentacar's office was dockside and I paid about $20eu more than if it was Europecar.

 

The first visit happened to be a Sunday and Europcar opened the office (2 hours) for cruisers and charged a Sunday premium of $40eu. They had us drop the car off at a local hotel. We then took a cab back to the ship as night had fallen.

 

Thanks to you both for your help! :)

 

The day is a Sunday, May 22, 2016. I'll check with Europcar.

[Hlitner]

Thanks to you both for your help! :)

 

The day is a Sunday, May 22, 2016. I'll check with Europcar.

 

If you are not able to reserve (with Europcar) online, then consider contacting their office (on Southampton) directly via phone (easy to find online) or direct e-mail (might be hard to find this...but a call to Europcar might get you the address). They will sometimes open for a short time window in the morning and then have you drop the car later in the day after they have closed their location (I think they once asked us to simply lock the keys in the car). As to rentacar.fr .......we have never known them to work on Sundays/holidays. Perhaps they have seen the error of their ways....but being France we doubt it.

 

Hank

[SPacificbound]

If you are not able to reserve (with Europcar) online, then consider contacting their office (on Southampton) directly via phone (easy to find online) or direct e-mail (might be hard to find this...but a call to Europcar might get you the address). They will sometimes open for a short time window in the morning and then have you drop the car later in the day after they have closed their location (I think they once asked us to simply lock the keys in the car). As to rentacar.fr .......we have never known them to work on Sundays/holidays. Perhaps they have seen the error of their ways....but being France we doubt it.

 

Hank

 

Hank, thank you! :)