My husband and I are thinking of spending a week (6, maybe 7 nights) in France in May, flying into and out of Paris. We will plan to spend maybe 2-3 nights in Paris and would like to spend the rest somewhere with a more rural setting. I know we could easily spend the whole week in Paris but we'd like to split up our time. We will be traveling by train and are trying to decide where we might want to spend the rest of our time. Some of the places we are considering are the Loire Valley, Burgundy or Provence. We've spent a fair bit of time in Burgundy and Alsace before but haven't explored anywhere else in France. For this trip, we want a place where we can slow down a bit, walk, explore small towns, drink coffee in a cafe. We don't need a lot of night life, museums, etc.
I would love to hear what other thoughts and ideas people might have for our extra time.