The Etretat Gardens (Jardins d'Etretat) sculptures

Etretat – The Gardens of Etretat

Etretat on its own is a place to visit in Upper Normandy. It’s well viewed by the French, and in the summer, even in the spring, you’ll have problems finding parking spaces, that’s how busy it gets. A beautiful, old and very scenic coastal village with several very old buildings, narrow streets, a beach and the famous three cliffs and their pillars.

But there’s more to Etretat than the village and the many tourists that visit this place all year round; the Gardens of Etretat (Les Jardins d’Etretat in French) is something that needs to be seen, even if you’re not into gardens, flowers and trees. This place will still amaze you.

The gardens are located at the top of the cliffs next to the Chapel (facing the beach, the cliffs on the right). You can walk up there, but it’s steep and longer than what you might think. Driving there might not be a good idea if you have finally found a parking in the town. However,there is a big parking space at the top, but it fills up very quickly.

TIP: The city runs a tourist train from the town centre to the Chapel (plus a few of the other sites). You can exit the train at the top and take another one on the way back.

The ticket office of the Gardens is quite novel (a little further from it is a refreshment station, done up the same way):

The Gardens of Etretat (Jardins d'Etretat) ticket office
The Gardens of Etretat (Jardins d’Etretat) ticket office

The ticket office is a small wagon which would normally be hitched to a horse. It’s beautiful and looks very appropriate. Prices are a bit on the expensive side (at the time of writing – 2018 – €8.8 for an adult) but since the gardens require a lot of manpower to keep in perfect shape, it’s understandable.

At the start of the Etretat Gardens
At the start of the Etretat Gardens

Once you enter the gardens, you will notice how immaculate the place is. There is not a leave out of place, and the landscaping has been incredible.

History

The place started in 1903 with the first tree. The owner and actress, Madame Thebault, was a close friend of the famous painter Claude Monet, and used Monet’s passion for gardening as inspiration to start these gardens.

She then had a house built in the middle of the 1.5 hectares of gardens:

The house named Roxelane in the Etretat Gardens
The house named Roxelane in the Etretat Gardens

The house was named Roxelane after the role that made her famous. In 2015 a famous Russian landscaper, Alexander Grivko, bought the place. Alexander has been designing gardens all over the world for the very rich and famous clients, but the Etretat one was the one he fell in love with. It’s also the only one that can be visited by the public.

In 2017, the Gardens went open to the public. Still today when you walk through this magic kingdom you will hear Russian spoken. That’s because a) there are a lot of Russian tourists, and b) all the gardeners are Russian.

The gardens are not only trees.

Wind Chimes in the Etretat Gardens
Wind Chimes in the Etretat Gardens

All over the place you will find many different types of special items, like a sort of wind chimes (photo above), or characters made out of straw (photo below):

Straw character fixed to a tree in the Gardens of Etretat
Straw character fixed to a tree in the Gardens of Etretat

There are some 35,000 trees and plants to be seen, all with their names on small signs next to them. Close to the house you find this stone bench with a breathtaking view of Etretat

Stone bench with a view at the Gardens of Etretat
Stone bench with a view at the Gardens of Etretat

Towards the side of the gardens you will find a terrace overlooking Etretat’s beach and cliffs (and golf course on top of the cliff).

Straw figure representing Claude Money at the Gardens of Etretat
Straw figure representing Claude Money at the Gardens of Etretat

The straw figure represents the famous French painter Claude Monet who painted many of his painting on this spot.

Conclusion

If you are in Normandy, this is a place that you should really visit since it’s quite unique (all other gardens designed by Alexander are for Russian billionaires so you can’t see them). The amount of work that went into them is staggering. Add to that the incredible views of Etretat and it’s dominant cliffs, and you’ve got a winner (even if you’re not that much into gardens). It’s really stunning.

Web: Les Jardins d’Etretat (in French only)

Scroll to Top