Guided Photography trip to the coast of Normandy

6-day photo tour to one of the most beautiful coasts of France including the chalk cliffs of Étretat, the top location Mont-Saint-Michel and Les Jardins d'Étretat

This photography trip to Normandy is for outdoor people who want to learn more about landscape photography. Photographer Ewout Pahud de Mortanges developed the programme and selected various photogenic locations on the coast of Normandy. The white chalk cliffs, the monastic island of Mont-Saint-Michel and the unique cliff-top garden ‘Jardins d’Étretat’ are some of the highlights. The ever-changing skies and the light variations during sunrise and sunset will challenge you to take your most amazing pictures. Ewout will provide instruction and advice during the photo sessions and teach workshops on photo editing and drone photography. Conditions permitting, Ewout will fly the drone during several group hikes through Normandy’s coastal countryside.

Price | € 1479,-

Hikers to Le Mont Saint Michel

Description 6-days Guided Photography trip to the coast of Normandy

The trip will take place from Sunday 10 to Friday 15 September 2023. The group will depart from the Netherlands by minivan on Sunday morning arriving in Étretat, Normandy in the late afternoon. The comfortable 9-seat minivan will be available for local transportation throughout the week and Ewout will show you the most beautiful locations. You will return to the Netherlands on Friday morning after breakfast.

The first hotel is located directly by the sea in Étretat | The first two nights you will stay in Hôtel Le Rayon Vert, located directly on the boulevard. The following locations will be visited: the chalk cliffs of Étretat and the particularly photogenic ‘Jardins d’Étretat’. We will take various walks along the coast and the chalk cliffs.

Hôtel Le Ravon Vert at the boulevard of Etretat

The second hotel is located near Mont-Saint-Michel | You will spend three nights in hotel Les Quatre Salines. Each day, Ewout will drive you to a different location, often directly on the coast, and to the Mont-Saint-Michel that is either surrounded by water or by sand, depending on the tide. This is an inspiring and constantly changing setting for photographers, with conditions varying from bright sunlight to stormy clouds to mysteriously foggy mornings. There are plenty of beautiful locations to set up your camera in the surrounding areas.

About Ewout | Photographer and facilitator Ewout Pahud de Mortanges (12-12-1991)

Ewout will accompany you throughout the trip. He will drive you to the most beautiful locations, offer tips on camera angles and teach workshops on flying a drone and photo editing. He has been a freelance photographer since 2017, after more than seven years of amateur photography and self-study. Together with ‘Up in the Sky’, he published a photo book containing photos of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In 2017, he won second prize in ‘Run for Art’ New York and came in third in the Zoom.nl Landscape Photo Competition of 2019.

His passion lies in landscape photography, especially in drone photography, as he likes to admire the world through birds’ eyes. His motto: “The world looks different from above, and that’s what’s special about it.”

Ewout is an EASA Certified Drone Pilot and registered in the aviation register of the Ministry of Aviation & Transport View his website >

Etretat. Picture: Ewout Pahud

Program Guided Photography trip to the coast of Normandy

Day 1: Travel Utrecht – Paris – Étretat
Travel by minivan from the Netherlands to Étretat where we will arrive in the late afternoon. Introduction and briefing session after checking into the hotel. Then we get ready for a first hike on the chalk cliffs, choosing a location for the sunset at Chapelle des Pêcheurs with the cliffs in the background. Dinner at the hotel.

Evening Etretatline. Picture: Ewout Pahud

Day 2: Introduction to coastal photography and ‘Les Jardins d’Étretat’
An early start to the day to shoot the sunrise on the coast of Étretat. After breakfast at the hotel and a briefing session by Ewout, we hike along the coast of Étretat finding photogenic places. First opportunity for drone shots. After lunch, we will visit ‘Les Jardins d’Étretat’. Back at the hotel and some rest, we may decide to catch the sunset at the chalk cliffs. Dinner (not included) in one of the village restaurants.

Jardins d’Étretat was an inspiration for Claude Monet. Picture: Burnbabyburn, Wikimedia

Day 3: From Étretat via Honfleur to Le Mont-Saint-Michel
After breakfast, around 9:00 am, we drive towards Mont-Saint-Michel (Travel time 2h40 / 239km). We pass through the picturesque town of Honfleur, a 45-minute drive from Étretat. Time for some city photography and a cup of coffee. Lunch after arrival in our hotel near Mont-Saint-Michel. Around 5:00 pm explanation about drone photography and information about Mont-Saint-Michel. A drive along the observation platform to admire the view over the salt marshes and Mont-Saint-Michel. Later we photograph our first sunset at Mont-Saint-Michel. Dinner at your own expense, before or after the late shoot.

* All dishes in the hotel are made from local products, and there is also local beer.
* If the weather conditions are not good, we skip the sunset photo moment and have an early dinner instead.
* The photography locations may vary each day depending on the weather. (Wind-fog-clouds)

On day 3 we make a stopover in Honfleur where you can also find inspiring places, photo: Ewout Pahud

The vast salt marshes with the monastery island in the background in the sea. Photo: Ewout Pahud

Day 4: Mont-Saint-Michel and visit to the Abbey
Early start (the sun rises at 7:06 am) to photograph the first light on the salt marshes of Mont-Saint- Michel. Let’s hope for the early morning fog, which makes the image extra special. Here we can fly the drone again, with Ewout’s help. After breakfast at the hotel, we visit and do the audio tour of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel. Afterwards we have a traditional lunch at La Mère Poulard. The afternoon we take some rest to later prepare for the sunset shoot at Mont-Saint-Michel, this time from a different angle. Let’s hope for good weather, because when the sun disappears behind the monastery island, it results in a unique photo. Dinner, at your own expense, before or after the late shoot.

* Option: by shuttle bus or walking to the island. The walk is 2.5 km there and 2.5 km back.
* The photography locations may differ per day depending on the weather. (Wind-fog-clouds)

If we are lucky the sheep will come out of their stables, which can be a nice foreground.

Day 5: Barrage du Mont-Saint-Michel and photo editing
Early start again (the sun rises at 7:07 am) at Mont-Saint-Michel. This time we start at ‘Barrage du Mont Saint-Michel’, the water barrier where we shoot from a different angle. After breakfast at the hotel, Ewout teaches a workshop about editing photography, preparing for a shooting day and reading the weather. If you have a laptop with Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, do take it with you (dit misschien ook bij de description zetten?). After lunch we prepare for a walk around the island of Mont-Saint-Michel to capture the monastery from all sides. Weather permitting, we can fly the drone to follow us during the walk. We end the day with a joint dinner (included) at a local restaurant in the suburb of Beauvoir.

* The photography locations may differ per day depending on the weather. (Wind-fog-clouds)

No sunset or sunrise is the same at this unique location. Photos: Ewout Pahud

Day 6: Return journey
After breakfast we prepare for the return journey by minivan to the Netherlands. Extra: If fog is expected, we will do another sunrise shoot for the die-hards.