Les Jardins d'Étretat: Topiary Gardens on Normandy's Alabaster Cliffs

Les Jardins d'Étretat, designed by landscape architect Alexandre Grivko and his firm Il Nature (with offices in London, Paris, and Moscow), are topiary gardens overlooking the famous alabaster cliffs of Étretat in Normandy, painted by Claude Monet in over fifty canvases. The restoration of a neglected green area began in 2015, inspired by the Belgian school of Jacques Wirtz and Daniel Ost, focusing on botany and the five senses. The gardens now feature over 15,000 plant species and about 100,000 shrubs shaped into forms evoking the English Channel's waves, sea spirals, and cliff arches. Each section is themed: the Garden of Avatar, the Garden of Emotions (with boxwood pruned as oyster shells recalling an 18th-century oyster bed for Queen Marie Antoinette), the Garden of Impressions (with spirals of Phillyrea angustifolia mimicking Channel currents), and the Garden of Aval (yew trees celebrating coastal rock formations). Color accents include rhododendrons, a rare orchid collection, agapanthus, and hydrangeas. Contemporary artworks dot the landscape: Sergey Katran's 'Until The Word Is Gone' (terracotta sculptures spelling 'art' in 125 languages, shown at the 2017 Venice Biennale), Samuel Salcedo's 'Drops of rain' (resin and aluminum faces), and Thomas Rosler's 'A table and two benches' offering cliff views. The gardens host open-air events and performances, especially in summer, and remain evergreen year-round.