Etretat is a lovely city in Normandy -- in addition to a thriving town center, it's a short walk to the seaside and the famous cliffs and rock formations (Monet made a series of paintings at Etretat).

An especially interesting hotel there is Le Donjon (The Dungeon), a castle that's been converted to a hotel a restaurant. The hotel is pretty good as long as you go for one of the better rooms, and the restaurant is surprisingly good. It's also nothing close to being a cookie-cutter place -- certainly worth a stay of a couple of nights.