► The legend of Olive's Fountain

It was at the time when the Barbarians were invading France. A particularly beautiful lady called Olive was washing her clothes in the waters of the Fountain, on the beach, when she was surrounded by a hoard of "Saracens" (a word meaning "strangers" and they were in this case "Vikings"). Only a miracle was able to save Olive. So she prayed to God to take her away from the hands of these cruel people and made a vow to build a church at Étretat. God came to her aid by raising a dreadful storm that blew the boats of the Saracens away from the shore. Olive decided there and then to build the church beside the sea. But the devil who at that time did not like Etretat took away at night the stones that had been collected during the day to the bottom of the Saint Clair hillside. Having thought more about it, Olive ended up by building the church where you see it today.

► The story of the Trou à l'Homme (manhole)

It was in the year 1792 that a Swedish vessel was thrown against the Etretat rocks by a storm and was completely smashed. The sea was terrible and it was impossible to give any help. The storm continued unabated for 24 hours and the bodies of the unfortunate shipwrecked sailors were washed up on the shore. At the bottom on a shelf of the rock there was an apparently lifeless sailor. He was picked up to be placed in a grave with his comrades when he suddenly came back to life. He told the story of how he had struggled against the waves for such a long time and had exhausted all of his strength and commended his soul to God and had then fainted and it was then that a wave took him and threw him onto an overhanging rock. Since then this cave has been known as the "trou à l’homme" or manhole.

► The legend of the ladies' bedroom (fairies room)

There was once a very evil man, who was the Lord of Fréfossé. At that time there were three young girls living there, whom the Lord carried off one day and incarcerated them in a cave near the dungeon that has now disappeared. Refusing his advances, the young girls were walled in and for three days and three nights the poor things wer left to live like that, but some fishermen heard gentle and plaintive singing, which ended when it quietly faded away. An old lady who was praying on the shingle beach saw the forms of three angels take flight and since that day …

► The history of the oyster beds

The construction of these beds was undertaken in 1777 by group of shareholders, one of whom was the Marquis de Belvert who was the owner and the main shareholder. These beds were dug out at the request of Queen Marie-Antoinette, who was very fond of oysters. The oysters did not originate from Étretat, but they were brought from the Bay of Cancale, which supplied many millions of them each year. Two sloops, "La Syrène" and la "Cauchoise" brought them to Etretat. After the oysters had remained in the tanks for several months and had acquired a more delicate flavour due to being alternately in fresh water from the underground river and then in salt water from the sea they were taken to Paris on the backs of donkeys or horses.

► Incineration of a Hindu prince

Prince Bapu Saheb Ghatjay accompanied by his son-in-law Prince Sampatras and his retinue spent the summer of 1884 at Étretat before going to Oxford. Despite the most strenuous efforts of Dr Fidelin, Prince Bapu Saheb Ghatjay, who had been ill for several days, died. A request was made to the Mayor, Adolphe Boissaye, for permission to cremate him (in accordance with the sacred rites of the Hindu religion).The latter sent this request by telegram (at 8 o'clock in the morning, when the offices opened) to the Prefect requesting authorisation and indicating that, in the absence of a reply, the ceremony would be performed on the following evening. As there was no reply, at midnight, a funeral pyre one metre high was erected and the body after having been prepared was transported into the town in silence and 2 hours later the funeral pyre was completed. Only a few witnesses attended the ceremony. Prince Sampatras lit the funeral pyre and at dawn all that remained were a few bones, consigned to the sea and to be sent back to India. By six o'clock in the morning there were no traces of the incineration to be seen. When informed about the events of the previous night, the people of the village rushed onto the beach but all they saw was the blackened shingle. That morning a message from the Prefect arrived, which said: "Incineration absolutely forbidden".

Source: "Etretat – Hamlet of the setting sun" Henri Bacon