Day #7 - Etretat and Rouen France. Best day yet!!!!

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"If I were to show the ocean to a friend for the first time, I would show them Etretat"



We left the hotel this morning a littl elater than we wanted to as we are getting a bit tired, so we slept in a bit. We then proceeded to drive about 400km from Gent, Belgium to Etratat, France. Where is that you say? Only one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is not more beautiful than lets say Jasper or Banff, but still very beautiful and unique compared with Alberta. I am sure you would see a lot of this type of thing maybe in Newfoundland or Nova Scotia, but I have never seen anything quite like it. Essentially it is limestone cliffs on the ocean with a picturesque town on the shore inbetween the cliffs and the ocean. We did some exploring, some caving, some geocaching (which we are not having a lot of luck doing, only found 1 so far out of about 8), we just had a great day. I would not be able to explain the beauty of this place, I suggest just look at the picks. We only planned on staying in this town an hour or so but we ended up there all day. We had crepes for dinner and left for Rouen. We arrived an hour later in Rouen, France and wished we had more time here. Our hotel is just rightout side of an amazing cathedral and we are a block away from a large pedestrian district. We have a bit of a drive tomorrow but I suspect we will be leaving late in order to see at least some of the sites we did not get a chance to see today. We have no regrets about spending all day n Etratat, it was great, I just wish I had brought my golf clubs. The course at the top of the cliffs is one of the nicest I have ever seen. Probably on par with a pebble beach or something like that.

A lot of the day was spent in the car. I have learned that you can not accellerate up a hill in fith gear or you will actually lose speed even if the gas is floored. You actually need to gear down into fourth to gain speed, who knew? Probably everyone out there but me. Enjoy the pics, we are having a fab time. More crepes tomorrow I am sure.

Assessment of Etratat

Kyle - 10/10 "One of my top 5 most beautiful places I have seen, good food, good wine, and I am much more comfortable with French than with Dutch"

Syd - 9.5/10 - "Gorgeous"

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