Cliff jewel: the nose of Jobourg

by Hilke Maunder

The Nez de Jobourg rises 128 metres above the English Channel. The waves crash against the rocks, gurgle over the pebbles and gently lap the soft sand. The gorse glows yellow among the heather that has taken over the cape on the west coast of the Cotentin. The view sweeps far and wide, towards the Channel Island of Alderney, towards Cap de Flamanville - and towards a herd of goats.

The goats once belonged to the farmers of Jobourg, a typical Norman village with granite houses whose blue-black slate roofs glow in the sun. The animals were set free in the 1970s. Over the years, they became more and more wild and returned to the wild animals they had once been before breeding. Long-haired and shaggy, the goats of the "commune de l'Ouest" breed, also known as "chèvres des fossées", roam the Jobourg coast completely free and unfettered.

The goats of Jobourg are impressively sure-footed. They can climb the steep cliffs with ease and even descend to the sea. This is more difficult for hikers. However, there are small bays here and there at the foot of the cliffs that are easy to reach - on foot or by boat. From these bays, some of which have rather imaginative names such as pea piles (tas de pois) or round butts (cul rond), the panorama is always breathtakingly wild and impressive