France in April, besides Paris where to go for a week.

What are your interests? Cities I’d recommend include Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Dinan, Strasbourg, Bayeux. But, again, it depends on what you want to see and do. Supply a bit more info to get better direction.

I recommend Nice, a beautiful small, waterfront city.

Liz,

Welcome to the forum. I see that this is your first post.

I think your instinct to pick one region for a week is good. How do you see getting around? Rental car? Train? Other public transport (bus)? Bicycle?

I am not kidding about the last suggestion. There are both guided and “self-guided” bike tours available. Self-guided means to cycle from hotel to hotel and the outfitter or tour company arranges daily luggage transfers.

Have you spent time with guidebooks looking at different regions? Not just RS which is great for what is covered, but myopic, other books are DK Eyewitness, Lonely Planet, Moon and of course Michelin. Michelin also has excellent regional guides, incl. Loire Valley and Provence. Lonely Planet also has regional guides. If you have good French reading ability, Guide Routard is great and it is especially suited for younger/active travellers.

(I say RS is myopic as he goes deep with regions he is passionate about but overlooks other areas - which may well be good for the areas overlooked.)

If I have managed to intrigue you with cycling, see https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/. You will find info on every region in France, routes and multiple self-guided tour operators. It’s a great starting point and even if you don’t cycle, the itineraries of different operators may give you ideas for your own itinerary by car - or even train.

For my Trip Report (TR) from 2023, FWIW, see https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/fabulous-tour-de-france-2-weeks-on-foot-and-by-train-2-weeks-by-e-bike

Planning is an exciting journey of its own.

Bon Vacance. Bonne Randonee.

LATE ADDITION Loire is great for castles that you mentioned - or chateaux. The Dordogne also has some worthy chateaux. Provence … perhaps not so much, though there is quite a bit of Roman architectural legacy, as well as Avignon’s Palais des Papes from the era of the schism … the late 1300s and early 1400s

The region with vineyards closest to Paris is Champagne. Both Reims and Epernay are easily reached, but not known for castles. Even driving the champagne route you'll see more Chateau than castles. The Loire is also a Chateau destination. Beautiful, but not castles.

My April trip is planned for the area between Dijon, Lyon, and Geneva, and since I'm in the middle of a couple major wine regions it's more food centric.

Let me make a suggestion that you travel a couple hours east, to Trier, and from there go up the Mosel Valley. This is a major wine region, has pretty little towns, and castles. Visit Trauben-Trarbach or Bernkastle-Kues and get your wine and castles together. You can even do this via a daytime river cruise if you prefer.