The perfect weekend adventure to Étretat and Rouen from Paris

I had previously written a blog post on the day trip to Étretat from Paris that I planned for my boyfriend's birthday. Even though we were had a great time and the place felt magical, one day felt too rushed and we left Étretat that day with the idea of coming back in the near future. It seems like the idea came full circle when for my birthday my boyfriend Dylan planned a weekend adventure to Étretat that, to this day, remains one of my most memorable experiences.

Day 1

Dylan rented a car and we left early in the morning for Étretat. Although the city is accessible by bus at a great prices, going by car can often times give you more flexibility in terms of timing and the amount of different places you can visit. The trip was not meticulously planned, which was, after all the original idea : to be able to explore calmly at our own pace. The trip was actually a three day adventure, but if your main purpose is to visit a weekend should be enough.

On your way to the beach from the city center, you will probably encounter some cute colorful houses like these ones.

We spent a large part of the day hiking along the cliffs. The last time we visited, we had not had enough time to do a proper hike, so this time we gave ourselves enough to do a full hiking circuit along the coastline. The hike we did took about 3 hours with beautiful views to the ocean and the cliffs.

My boyfriend booked this beautiful cabin with its own backyard. It might seem simple, but for me, living in a tiny studio in a city, being able to eat our home-cooked food outside and walk barefoot on the grass under the summer sun is magical.

I've been fascinated by astronomy for several years now and we had the chance to see a beautiful starry night at like 2-3 am.

I took the photo with my phone so you can obviously see more stars in the image than you do in real life, but it was wonderful.

Day 2

On our last day, we took our time in the morning. On our way back to Paris, we stopped at Rouen, which is another Normand city, and which is particularly known for its half-timbered houses. I personally found it more charming than other well-known cities like Colmar or Strasbourg that have similar architecture.

We also walked by Rouen's cathedral, which the impressionist painter Claude Monet painted at different times of the day.

This trip might seem a bit short, but it honestly did us a lot of good, leaving the city for a couple of days, staying at a different place, getting a taste of a slower and simpler life. After this trip we definitely reflected a lot about our dream life and the potential gap there is in the moment.