Small Town Charm in France (7 days)

Ugh, I just wrote a bunch and then it disappeared when I switched to a second window. Well, here’s a trip report to view in the meantime while hopefully some local French contributors reply to your post.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/our-combined-solo-couple-vacation-in-france-2019

Will you have a car for this part of the trip?

How many nights will you be on the ground? I find it easier to plan that way. Two nights = 1 full day, etc. Are you flying round trip to Paris? If so, I recommend you leave the airport and head for your smaller town destination first, then return to Paris for a few days there before flying home. That way you don’t burn your last night at an airport hotel.

Since smaller towns and wine is your focus and you don’t have much time I would recommend you go somewhere not too far from Paris so you don’t waste a lot of travel time. Both Burgundy and the Loire Valley would tick those boxes. Are you willing to drive outside of Paris or do you want to rely on local transportation and/or day tours?

Brittany is full of charming little villages. You could take the train to Rennes (2 hours), then rent a car. We also loved the Dordogne, but that's a longer train ride. Avoid Provence in late summer unless you like sticky hot weather.

Look at Dinan in Brittany for a small town with charm!

I have another suggestion for you. Alsace. I lived near the town of Colmar in the middle of the Alsace region for three years, and our house was on the actual Route de Vin. Fabulous food and wine in the region, though mostly only whites, but fabulous they are. (Pinot Noir is the only Alsatian red.) You could take the TGV to Colmar in about three hours and get a rental car from the train station. I wouldn’t actually stay in Colmar, though. I would recommend one of the many quaint, smaller villages along the Route de Vin, like Eguisheim, Riquewihr, or Ribeauville. There is a 2-star Michelin restaurant, Auberge de l'Ill, in Ilhausern, that has an amazing tasting menu and wine list. However, there are plenty of cozy, casual restaurants in the area too. You can read up on the Route de Vin and it’s many wineries and tasting rooms here: https://www.wineroute.alsace/. I agree with the suggestion that you start in the countryside and end up in Paris. The only danger of that is, once you go to Alsace, you won’t want to leave. (I say that, and I adore Paris.) Alsace is well-known to Europe but is not very well travelled by Americans. You could have a very unique experience there.
Edit: I forgot to mention that there is plenty of non-technical hiking through vineyards and in the nearby Vosges mountains. You might even combine a hike with lunch at a ferme auberge in the Vosges. Feel free to DM me if you want anymore information.

And one more thing…August is a HUGE travel month for Europe. I wouldn’t delay making your decisions much so you are able to make reservations for places you really want to go to, especially any Michelin-starred restaurants. That being said, some of them will be closed, especially in Paris, during the entire month.

Another vote for Bretagne. We visited friends in Finisterre. This is a unique part of France, quite different from the rest. Rather than Gallic, it is Celtic. Rather than wine-oriented, it is cider-oriented. There are lots of little villages, there is the sea itself.

A recent series of mystery novels is set in Bretagne, and my wife and I are devouring them. These are the Inspector Dupin novels. The first is "Death in Brittany". Good mysteries have a mystery (duh!!), as well as sex, coffee, wine, and food. These books have everything but the sex. Each book focuses on one feature of Bretagne, and he travels often to the small villages. It's like reading a novel set in our travels of 2017 when we visited this area. Our lust for cider, cows, and little seaside restaurants has been rekindled!

Could you please give some feedback regarding the suggestions that have been made?

Alsace is a lovely region as well as with all the other suggestions. There are so many charming villages all around the Strasbourg/Colmar area. From Strasbourg, you can also day trip over to Gengenbach, Germany as well as Baden Baden. It's a tad less than two hours by high-speed train from Paris. If you use Strasbourg as a base, you can easily visit Colmar, and all the little wine towns in the area (some you would probably want to rent a car for the day). Colmar would also make a nice base.

If you are going to Paris and have 7 days total and want a good wine experience in a small town, I'd recommend Epernay

Could you please give some feedback regarding the suggestions that have been made?

Andrea, this OP only replies very rarely based on posts since 2017.

I think we need to assume that the questions and replies are being read, but not expect a dialogue.

Thanks Nigel.

I suggest Barbizon and Fontainebleau....peaceful, lovely, serene. My French is not "very strong" either, speaking - wise, rather limited, which mean the only thing to do is to push it.

I also vote for Alsace. Last year we stayed in Eguisheim for three weeks and explored this wonderful area. Multiple places in town to taste wine and Colmar an easy drive. You can day trip to Freiburg and Strasbourg if you need a big city fix. There are many castle ruins nearby that usually involve a hike uphill to see them, so your legs will not get flabby. Might be hot in August, so if you can find a place to stay with A/C, book it now!

Chris

Hi,

Based on your love of wines, and your dislike of large cities like Rome, I'd consider Lyon and Bordeaux. Yes, they are cities, but they're much smaller of Rome: Lyon is about 600K and Bordeaux has about 300K. Both cities have great access to unbelievable wines, Museums, cathedrals, "old" towns, some Roman ruins, unbelievable food, and public transportation.

If you really want to scale down to Montepulciano size, then I would suggest Chinon in the Loire Valley and Beaune in Burgundy. Both are small, have access to public trans, and REALLY good wines (I like Bordeaux & Rhone's better). Chinon is really quaint, provides great river views and walks along the Vienne, has a nice chateau/castle and access to the entire Loire Valley chateaus. Great food as well.
Beaune is similar: it has one must see tourist site (l'Hospice de Beaune) but great wines and foods/restaurants. Plus, you can rent bikes and be in the vineyards in literary ten minutes. You can also take trains and there are lots of wine tour companies. Dijon is a wonderful city as well with several great museums and lots of fun things to do.

Good luck with whatever you choose: I suspect you won't be disappointed.