The Porte d'Aval and the Aiguille from the beach at low tide

The Porte d'Aval is the arch at the southern end of Étretat's beach, and the Aiguille, a seventy-metre chalk needle, stands in the sea just beyond it. From the pebbles the two line up naturally; walk out onto the shelf of wave-cut chalk at the foot of the cliff and you can put the needle inside the arch, which is the version people remember.

Everything about that walk depends on the tide. The shelf is exposed for a couple of hours either side of low water and covered the rest of the time, and the way back to the beach closes before the platform itself does. Read the tide tables for the day, plan the session around them rather than around the light, and leave a wide margin — the sea here does not negotiate, and people are cut off at Étretat every year.

When the timing works the light is straightforward: late afternoon puts the sun round to the west and lights the arch and the needle from the front, and in summer it goes down into the sea beyond them. Morning leaves this side in its own shadow but gives clean, cool light on the wet chalk and better reflections in the pools.

Practical: the shelf is chalk and weed and it is genuinely slippery — flat, grippy shoes for everyone, and expect wet feet. The pebble beach is steep and hard to walk in heels. There is rockfall from these cliffs, so do not stand directly under the face. And check the tide first, every time: this frame is not available on demand.