Jardins d’Étretat

Jardins d’Étretat, Normandy. Ipek found a Turkish queen halfway up a French cliff, and I have not heard the end of it.

We came for the cliffs Monet painted. We spent most of the hour with our backs to them, looking at hedges.

Seven gardens grow up here, clipped into waves and sleeping faces. Halfway round, Ipek stopped in front of a house, went quiet, then laughed. The villa carries the name of a queen every Turkish household grows up hearing about. Neither of us expected to meet her on a cliff in Normandy.

There is also a brass key set into a tree. You turn it and music starts somewhere above your head. We took turns. Then we went back and did it again.

If Normandy is anywhere in your plans, build a morning around this place. Give it an hour, wear shoes you can climb in, and book before you go, because the slots do sell out.

The waves or the faces, which one stopped you?

Where Av. Damilaville, 76790 Étretat · @jardins_d_etretat