Étretat Flights

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Same instructions and address as in part one except this time you take the ligne 17 from Breaute. I'm going to do it this way next time because it's quicker and cheaper.

For example: On a Friday , leave Paris St Lazare at 17:58 arrive Breaute at 19:48, then take the bus at 19:58 and arrive Etretat at 20:28.

This only takes 2:30 instead of over three hours when you change at Le Havre. I had to learn this the hard way because the information on the SNCF site was not clear.

The price for a one way ticket is 3.20 euros.

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Take the train from Gare St Lazare in Paris to either Breaute or Le Havre and then take the bus as outlined in the tips above. All the trains will have Le Havre as final destination so it's not such a big deal to fall asleep.

Once again I stress that you must coordinate train arrival with bus departure. I spent 4 hours in the Le Havre train station on the way there because I didn't coordinate properly. The station is really dreary, there is no place to store your luggage if you want to have a walk around, and there is nothing interesting to see near the station. Also the door to the toilettes wouldn't lock.

Nothing like the Gare St Lazare where you can have something to eat and people watch; it too was the subject of a painting by Monet.

108, Rue Saint-Lazare; 8th Arrondissement

In June/July 2006 we had a 9 day driving holiday in France. We caught a car ferry from Dover to Calais, drove down through Normandy, popped into Brittany and then caught the ferry back to Dover from Boulogne-sur-Mer.

We chose to take our own car over, as the cost of the ferry and petrol was significantly cheaper than flying from London and hiring a car in France. I also feel a lot more comfortable travelling in our own car as opposed to a hire car.

The only negative thing about driving our car in France is that it is a right hand drive car, and French cars are left hand drive, which means that tolls/tickets machines etc are on the wrong side of the car for the driver to operate…luckily I was able to assist in these duties from the passenger seat, but I do feel sorry for the solo traveller in these situations.

Driving in France is great. The roads are good and the sign posting is excellent. You can hoon along on the wide tollways/freeways, or travel along pretty coastal roads, soaking up the atmosphere of the French countryside. Just remember which side of the road you have to drive on if you come over from the UK.

I haven't actually travelled to Etretat yet, but I'm planning to take trip there from Paris. aemilys' useful advice about getting to Etretat encouraged me to investigate the Autocars Gris. I managed to come across this useful Etretat tourist office website: www.etretat.net. Click on the 'Bus' logo along the top right hand side and you'll find more information about your train from Paris with a bus to Etretat. There's a downloadable timetable of the Le Havre - Etretat - Fecamp bus route in PDF format.