First Time To France

Congratulations on your first trip to France! With 7 days I would spend all of your time in Paris,(where there is more than enough to keep you fascinated). At most, you could do a day trip to Versailles. Consult the Rick Steves Paris guidebook if you haven't already. I don't think there is a need to go south for warmer weather -- Paris in October should be lovely.

I would second BG's advice. A week in Paris is just enough time to see the highlights without being rushed. I was there at the end of October 2015 and the weather was perfect although it did get chilly late at night when cruising the Seine. I would suggest relaxing and enjoying your trip together rather than trying to cram in another town.

Reims in the Champagne region is also a daytrip option, 45 minutes each way by the fastest TGVs. Full-fare tickets are €40-50 each way if you decide on the spot, or can be half that price if reserved ahead.

fran,

To "figure out what to do", I'd recommend having a look at the RS Paris guidebook, as there's an enormous amount of information there on sightseeing, getting around, etc. That way you'll be able to find activities that most appeal to you. As you're flying in and out of Paris, I wouldn't venture further south as the travel time back and forth would use too much of your very limited time in Paris. As someone else mentioned, there's more than enough to keep busy with in Paris and day trips.

Congratulations on your anniversary! That's quite a milestone.

I would spend 7 nights in Paris.....Doing Versaille and maybe another small daytrip.

7 days in Paris -- sounds romantic enough by itself! Slow down and smell les fleurs.

The first time to such a place is always amazing and memorable. My first time to Europe was Paris and I'll never forget it. Even something as simple as going into the corner store to buy a sandwich was an event to behold. Paris is a city for walking so make sure you do plenty of that. Whatever you do, don't rush. Happy Travels.

I don't think you can get much more romantic than a week in Paris. I wouldn't waste time traveling elsewhere on that short of a trip. If you have to go somewhere Provence is an easy choice. Three hours on the TGV, I'd rent a car while there. You'll use a good part of a day traveling there and have to get back to Paris which will mean a realllly long travel day or a one night hotel before flying out.

One more vote for simply staying in Paris. I've been there three times and I still have a list of things I'd like to see. Save the money you'd spend transiting around and put it towards a romantic and fabulous room. Paris is absolutely beautiful and October is a fine time to be there.

You don't have 7 days really -- you have one jet lagged afternoon/evening and 6 full days. That is a nice intro to Paris. I wouldn't do a day trip beyond Versailles in that amount of time -- maybe Giverny or Chartres if those are special interest of yours. A week in Paris is not a long time.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/anniversary-lunch-at-la-tour-dargent/
We were in Paris in October of last year celebrating our 43rd anniversary here:

We will be at the opera in Paris for our 44th this fall.

Take your time; make memories; come back again. October in our experience is a lovely month. The leaves are turning and we have had great weather. The only really rainy day we had last year for the whole month was alas the day we had ticket for the Eiffel Tower. Paris is beautiful

I agree with others who say stay in Paris. Did you look at the itinerary of the Rick Steves Best of Paris in 7 days City Tour? the day by day itinerary may give you some ideas.

A trip to Giverny might be fun as a day trip out of Paris.

Enjoy!

I was looking into Paris again recently. You could certainly spend a whole week there and not get bored. There are also worthy day trips to Rouen, Reims, and perhaps Chartres. Amiens also looks really interesting to me. I would target a minimum of four full days in Paris itself but it might make sense to venture out to a couple of those, too. A rail pass might make this pretty affordable, but I did not get so far as to determine whether that's practical (i.e. a rail pass does not work on every class of train). Or, point to point tickets might be reasonable too.

Congratulations on your 25th anniversary!
I agree with the others & vote for staying in Paris for the entire time!

October is my favorite month to travel too!
Make sure to book your Eiffel Tower tickets 90 days in advance ;-)

Enjoy your trip!

I will also jump on the 7 days in Paris bandwagon! There is so much to do there, so many great little neighborhoods to wander. Day trips to Versailles & Reims would be wonderful.

What types of things are you looking to do?

Stay in Paris. It's romantic. Evening walks along the Seine, a picnic on the Champs de Mars looking up at the Eiffel Tower, a glass of wine at a small bistro before dinner. Sunset over the city from the Arc de Triomphe or Montparnasse. The possibilities are endless, it's all romantic. It's Paris.

I assume you don't want to consider Normandy. In that case, I would limit my time in Paris and take the TGV to Avignon and use it as a base to explore Provence. IMHO, Provence is like living in a Williams Sonoma catalog and Paris is a nice big city. I much prefer Provence (and Normandy) to Paris.

Congratulations on your 25th anniversary. Sounds like a wonderful trip for the two of you.

Suggestions depend on what you like. Staying in Paris is fine advice, but since you're asking for alternatives, I would suggest a trip to see a chateau or two (or three) in the Loire valley. It's only a short trip from Paris (2 1/2 hours by car to Chenonceau, for example). Chenonceau seems to be on everyone's favorites list and there are many others to choose from. I'd suggest Chaumont-sur-Loire, for example, but you should read up on choices. Depending on your interests, visiting chateaux could be very romantic.

Chartres is an amazing sight to see if you might be interested in cathedrals, and particularly in word-class stained glass windows.

In a different direction, go north to Giverny if seeing Monet's home and gardens would interest you.

Or go all the way down south to Sarlat (a 5 1/2 hour car trip). There are plenty of things to see and do around Sarlat - fantastic market days, gardens, chateaux, prehistoric art caves, canoeing on the Dordogne, hot air balloon rides (expensive but maybe romantic for you).

In line with what janettravels44 said, your first day will be devoted to dealing with jet lag, so you shouldn't plan any long driving trips on arrival day, but you might be able to manage a short trip (an hour?) just to get outside Paris if that's your intention.

Hope this helps. Hope your trip is fantastic.

We spent five nights in Paris and didn't think we had nearly enough time, so I'm with the others to stay there for the full week. And if you hit the items on your list, you can always do the impromptu day trips to Reims/Champagne, Versailles, Chartes, or longer day trips to the Loire or Normandy.

If this is your first time visiting Paris, the time will go by much faster than you think.
People who have been here repeatedly don't seem to have this problem.
Most of the first day will be lost just getting into Paris and fighting jet lag - and maybe you won't feel quite up to speed on the second day, either.
The second-to-last day will be spent packing and running around doing last-minute errands.
The last day will be lost to travelling back home, unless you can leave in the late evening. This really leaves you 4 or 4.5 days to enjoy Paris.
Not everything will go like clockwork on day trips - trains can be delayed, etc.
As such, you might think about just staying put and having a good time in Paris.
You won't run out of things to do on your first visit, believe me.

Versailles will eat up at least 8 hours, probably more.

Fontainebleau is much closer and a lot smaller but still very impressive and with fewer tourists. Round trip will take about 90 minutes, viewing the estate will take about 4 hours.
Giverny will take about 4 to 6 hours.

Reims is a great idea - easy and a good way to celebrate. If I could make only one day trip, I'd go here.

PS - about "heading South because it might be milder and less wet"...
This is doubtful in October. Just the opposite might be true, in fact.
But to be safe, you should not rely on historical weather data - check MeteoFrance one week before you travel. Mother Nature is not happy with us, and it's been raining pretty much non-stop all year in France.