8 Nights in France in November with Teen and Tween

8 nights will go quickly, especially if you are already locked into a return flight from Paris. You can easily burn this time in Paris. Maybe day trips instead? Chartres, Reims, Rouen, Versailles?

You mentioned Rome. If the desire is to see some ruins and you are absolutely set on staying in a second location, then perhaps take the TGV to Avignon when you land and return for your 4 nights in Paris. Roman ruins galore in Provence.

Strasbourg and the surrounding villages are still nice without the markets. More atmospheric than sights, but there are some castles nearby, and of course the cathedral.

I wouldn't be inclined to fly to Rome for just 3 days, but I'll note that though airfare to Rome might equal train cost to Amsterdam, hotel rates might be considerably lower in Rome. Amsterdam is expensive. Another possible warm-weather option would be Seville. Flights might happen to be cheaper. One advantage of Seville over Rome (psychological though it may be) is that 2.5 days would give you a more-comprehensive look at Seville than the same amount of time would provide in Rome. In addition, the climate-summary charts in the two cities' Wikipedia entries indicate that, statistically speaking, your have better odds of warm, dry weather in Seville at that time of year. Obviously, actual weather on any given day cannot be predicted.

I like Nice and the many easy side trips possible by train in that area, but there isn't TGV service all the way to Nice, just to Marseille, after which you get dumped onto a slow regional rail line. As a result, the trip would take 6 to 7 hours each way by train, which is a huge chunk of your available time. Personally, I resist mid-trip flights unless I have no other option, but there are flights between Paris and Nice--quite a lot of them each day, some from CDG and some from Orly. If things went right, flying would save at least an hour.

A better option in France would be Provence, I think. There is TGV service all the way to Avignon. The TGV station is outside town, but a taxi wouldn't be unreasonable for 4 people. The train itself can take as little as 2 hr. 40 minutes, though the more likely (morning) trains take just over 3 hours. I think November would be early enough there wouldn't be much risk of mistral winds (check Google), but others will know better about that.

If you decide to split your time between Paris and another base on this trip, the usual advice would be to travel on to the second city the day you land in France and put all your Paris nights at the end of the trip. This protects you in the event of transportation difficulties on the return trip to Paris as well as saving the time required for one hotel change. You'll really have to be back in Paris the night before you fly home, unless...

Have you considered changing the departure point for your return flight from Paris to whatever turns out to be your second city? That would turn the round-trip ticket into a multi-city ticket, a much more efficient option when you want to visit two cities.

Thank you all so much for your replies!! It looks like Avignon is a good option for the second lag of the trip. We're not planning to get a car, any recommendation on where to stay that's central enough to walk/train/bus around?

Avignon is central and a good transportation hub. That said, many sights are off the beaten path. Consider hiring a guide service for one of the days to maximize your time. Rick mentions a few in the guidebook. We used Imagine Tours and had a great experience.

Regarding where to stay, we did a vacation rental in the historic center. I would absolutely go this route again. There are some incredible apartments on the well-known rental sites. It's all relatively walkable. The central train station (Gare d'Avignon Centre) will be your primary station while you are there. Train, bus, taxis at that location. The TGV station from Paris is outside of town. As others have mentioned, it's just a short cab ride.

I would have recommended Lyon, 2 hours from Paris by high-speed train. There's the town itself, notably the presqu'île with its various statues and fountains, especially the massive and recently restored Bartholdi fountain in Place des Terreaux. Lyon's Musée des Beaux-Arts is on one side of the Place.

Medieval-feeling vieux Lyon and its traboules would be fascinating to kids, I would think. There's the Musée Cinema & Miniature that would be interesting, especially the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter parts.

You can take a cable car (funicular) up to Fourvière hill with its Roman ruins, museum, and highly decorated basilica (Notre-Dame de Fourvière). Plus there's Parc de la Tête d'Or with its greenhouses, sculptures, fountains, gardens, and free zoo.

A short train ride away is the medieval town of Pérouges, where three different three musketeers films have been made, and another train ride south is Viennes, with its incredible Roman ruins and museum.

Avignon is nice, but Lyon would offer more.

If you are flying in and out of Paris then going somewhere distant will literally gobble up the best day of the trip, the day before the flight home when instead of enjoying wherever, you will be scrambling back to Paris for the flight home the next day.

There are literally dozens of interesting day trips from Paris: Auvers, Senlis, Chantilly/Senlis, Crecy la Chapelle, Versailles, many more. We actually did Nantes as a long day trip with our granddaughter; here are snapshots from an earlier trip to Nantes -- if you decide on that be sure to reserve the elephant ahead and make sure the marine carousel is operating -- it is very limited in cold months. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2019/09/13/les-machines-de-lile-nantes/
Consider taking the kids to the Van Gogh/Auvers exhibit at the d'Orsay (and do the VR experience -- it isn't great but still worth doing). Then do a day trip to Auvers.

November is a rancid month. You have very little time. Wasting a day going to a distant city like Avignon (my least favorite 'important city' in France) and then a day coming back in so little time seems tragic.

If you must do a different city, I would have flown open jaw into Paris and out of Amsterdam. Since you did not, I would choose something close by and go there on arrival. Lyon is an obvious choice; staying in Paris and planning day trips is a better choice. If you decide on another base use the miserable arrival day to get to that spot, so you don't waste two good vacation days out of the 7 or so you actually have. 8 nights is 7 full days -- every long distance trip chews up most of a day.

One thing to do for sure while you are in paris and it is great for a rainy day (which may be every day you are here in November) is the VR experience Eternelle Notre Dame. It is amazing -- a 45 minutes walk in 12th century Paris while they build NOtre Dame. Kids will be blown away.

Janettravels and Sammy have given excellent advice.

A lot closes in November in Provence. It's not the time to go. Avignon is not the most charming place to be even in nice weather. I think you'd be wasting precious time. As pointed out, you really have 7 days. Going to Avignon takes 2.5 hours by train, but add in packing, getting to the station, checking into a new hotel, getting reoriented and you have wasted most of your short daylight. Remember that we are further north, so our days are shorter than most of the US.
Follow Janettravels' suggestions or if you absolutely have to go somewhere, follow Sammy's.

Another consideration to staying the entire time is Paris that time of year is more flexibility for the weather. Looks nice? Take the day trip that day. Looks not so nice? That's a good day to stay in Paris for a museum or shopping. For ideas and logistics you might look at this book An Hour from Paris: https://a.co/d/fP1kOAo Enjoy the planning!

When our kids were teens we took them to Paris, Normandy and the Loire. We had 10 nights so after our time in Paris I rented a car and drove. With 3 nights after Paris, you could drive through Normandy with the goal of getting as far as Mont-Saint-Michel (our kids liked it) before returning to Paris - a road trip adventure if you will. If they insist on another country take a look at flying to Spain.

How about Eurostar to London for a few days? The sooner you buy tickets the cheaper I seem to remember. Just another option.