The Falaise d'Aval is the western cliff at Étretat, pierced by the most photographed of the three arches and accompanied by the 70-metre Aiguille — a slender chalk needle rising straight out of the sea. Monet painted it dozens of times, Maupassant wrote about it, and the view from the cliff path looking back to the arch is the postcard image of the Normandy coast.
To see it well, walk up the path from the western end of the beach (steep but short — about 15 minutes) and follow the clifftop south. Continue another twenty minutes to reach the Manneporte, the third and largest arch, hidden from the town. Don't try to reach the base of the arch at high tide — people are cut off and rescued every season.