suggestions for a two month spring stay in France.

A few questions for you. What are your interests? Are you wanting to rent a house or apartment in one city/town/village (which?) and stay put for 2 months, maybe with some day trips (or side trips to other parts of the country/continent? Or will you try a couple of different places? Do you intend to rent/lease a car? Bikes? Do you prefer coast, interior, mountains, warm/cold/hot weather? France is a big country with vastly different regions offering a wide variety of all of the above. So help us narrow it down for you.

March is pretty cold; expect snow, hail, rain, and temps below 50 for the highs. Freezing at night. If that's not your thing you need to be along the Med. I usually just confine myself to Paris and the big cities until April. (I was in Paris for 4 days last week.) In April/May things start to green up and the temps warm up also. Plus it's light outside until 8pm+. That's when you want to drive the wine roads, visit the Loire, or Dordogne, and maybe even spend some time in Brittany.

My friends and I have had very good luck with FeWo over Airbnb. https://www.fewo-direkt.de/d

bcbogart,
France is so large and has such varied topography and climates and cultures that I would pick four areas and spend two weeks in each one. I would have a car for excursions in each region. I suggest gites-de-france for finding lodgings with kitchens. It is older than AirBandB and IMO much better run, more reliable, and we have never been unhappy with our stays through them, from 3 days to 10 days.
My favorite regions are Provence (ALL of Provence), the Dordogne/Vizere valleys (with Albi, Toulouse and Carcassonne added on, though in different but nearby departments), Brittany and, of course, Paris (a world unto itself). (I would add Normandy, but not just the DDay areas...the route along the Seine river is beautiful....Rouen, Villequier, the Route des Abbayes) Maybe this as a three day journey to Brittany.
March and April...begin further south because of weather and work your way to Brittany. Its Atlantic weather is part of its magnificence, IMO. To me, Brittany is a different world from the rest of France...otherworldly, somewhat mystical and closer to nature and the earth, if that makes sense. But I digress.....do consider splitting your two months into different areas to get to know France. Lucky you! Have a wonderful time!

We love the two weeks, move, two weeks idea. Tiime to see more of the country. And the idea of starting along the Med and working our way north as the weather warms makes sense. We've done the Normandy WWII things, but not the wine regions of Bordeaux, etc. We think renting a car is best for us and allows us freedom of movement. Of course, we'll wind up in Paris because, well we just will. Thanks so far for the ideas. BB

Follow the warmth in your journey. However you’re not going to immerse yourself in French life/culture….just a slow pleasant crawl. Consider skipping Paris and maybe end up flying home from Brussels. Have visited Paris off and on since 1973 and it’s wonderful but not at the expense of new places.

I would definitely spend a couple of weeks in Provence. We used to visit quite frequently when our oldest daughter lived there. It is starting to warm up in March; however, can you change your dates to April/May, or perhaps mid-March to mid-May? I guess it depends on how important the warmer weather is to you. The mistral winds during the spring can make the weather in Provence cold and windy. You just never know.

All of Provence is wonderful. You could stay in St. Remy and visit so many places from there. Aix en Provence would make another nice base. Avignon is a good base because there is a train station there if you won't be renting a car. But I think St. Remy and Aix are prettier than Avignon. You can visit the Luberon Villages, Marseilles, the Camarque, etc. All the villages have fun and interesting markets.

Another region we love is the Dordogne with its caves, castles, etc. Sarlat is a great place to stay and come home to after sightseeing with lots of restaurants to choose from.

All told this summer's trip of 12 ca. 87 days, 7 full weeks are earmarked only for traveling in France, "et du Nord au Midi" as the well-known historical song lyric goes. My main interests are cultural and esoteric "modern" historical sites and museums. I am in the same age bracket as you.

What specific interests are driving your travel destinations there? Deciding on the priorities is difficult.

The ways of life in Paris, Strasbourg, Lyon, Nice, Bordeaux and Nantes are all different and distinct. And all are very different from a small city or a rural area. One of the first things to do IMO is to ascertain whether you are city mice or country mice, and then work your way toward which geographic areas most appeal on the basis of climate. Weather this April in Bordeaux is somewhat gray and rainy but otherwise pleasant; I love the place, but it's assuredly not for everyone.

Based on your feedback and the expected weather I would recommend the following

1 week burgundy
2 weeks Provence
2 weeks Dordogne
1 week Loire
1 week eastern Normandy
1 week Paris

Basically keeping it to a loop through inner France with extended stays in the south. In burgundy we enjoyed staying here https://www.lacombotte.com/ for a wine village kind of experience.

There have been several suggestions of Provence, but the problem is the icy, cold winds that blow out of the Alps called the Mistral. We just had Mistral winds and central mountains' Tranmontan winds non-stop for a week until last Thursday, April 2. The Tranmontans blow over Toulouse, Carcassonne, Albi... So neither is ideal until April. I live in Occitanie and have lived in Provence, and try to avoid the winds. The Mistral that blows over Provence comes about every three days. I can't be as precise with the Tramontan.

So, I suggest first two weeks in Nice or nearby, the Riviera. The winds don't blow that far east and the sun shines. March is 60-70.
Next, Montpellier, on the Occitanie south coast, or a nearby town, rarely gets the winds. It's the same temperature as the Riviera but a different culture, mixed with the Catalan. Montpellier is a university city with a huge historic center, transportation to the beach, mountains, and a lot of activity.
Then in April go somewhere in Provence. The winds will be less frequent, the sun comes out, and the flowers bloom.
Finally, choose somewhere further north for your final two weeks such as Dijon, a medium-size manageable city, when the weather has started to warm up.

The cuisine in Dijon will be butter based and wine sauces and excellent pinot noir wines. The Riviera, Occitanie, Provence it's olive oil, fish, vegetables, but we also have plenty of fattening foods to enjoy.

I would avoid anywhere near the Atlantic coast until later in the season because the rain keeps rolling in from the Atlantic week after week, day after day. It's been a rainy winter including March, and then the March winds closed down cafe and restaurant outdoors seating and closed parks and other recreational areas for safety.

We were just in Bretagne for 2 M, Feb-March. We are 73 and 78. No snow whatsoever. Temps consistently in the 40-50 F range. A LOT of rain in Feb. For most of Feb, a light jacket with a shirt and sweater was quite comfortable, but we are from SD and don't mind a little chilliness.

Bretagne is good. We rented a small house that a French friend found - E1000/M. Very nice place. We ran out of things to do in Bretagne with about 3 weeks to go. My recommendation is to plan on 2 long-term stays in different areas. Probably S of Paris would make the most sense. You probably can get a good price for March, April might be a little more expensive.

We rented a car from the Super U supermarket chain. It was not expensive. It was essential in the rural areas - most of Bretagne is not served by train/bus, and these are not running frequently. We were not pressured to take the expensive full coverage.

We made 20-25 trips of medium distance for our stay (< 150K), and saw many interesting things. We like to visit churches for the art and history.

We ate 1/3 of meals in restaurants and in the house 2/3. We eventually decided that lunches was a better choice, as having 2 g wine and driving after dark are less attractive than when we were 40. Supermarkets now dominate all areas in France, and the offerings are 80% of US costs. Wine is amazingly cheap. Beer is not. Cheese - well, you know. Most supermarkets have 5, 6, 7 varieties of pate. All accept credit cards, either in the phone Wallet or the actual card. Most have prepared sandwiches for 6-8 E.

One surprising thing - French guard condiments closely. I finally took to carrying a tube of honey mustard (motarde au miel) to add to the ham sandwiches.

maybe something like
one week in Burgundy or Colmar area
2 weeks in Annecy
2 weeks in Nice
2 weeks in Aix en Provence

Over the last three years, I’ve spent about three weeks in Paris in March

I’ve yet to see snow, sleet, or hail. Sounds like I’ve just been lucky.

Thanks for all the great ideas and considerations. Planning an adventure is almost as fun as the to... But not quite. BB

Hi Elizabeth, you mentioned the windy winter-spring weather in the area I had planned to visit this year January-February. I had a major health issue and the trip was cancelled. We were now hoping in October-November, all being well, even though the days are shorter. Thinking about 5/6 weeks Carcassone-Toulouse, Arles and surrounding areas, Nice and Riviera. What are your thoughts on the weather?
(I know I can look up statistics but was interested in a real-life opinion) Thanks

This is to answer Tinac.
I haven't stayed October and November around Carcassonne and Toulouse, so jolui is the one to ask. I suggest you start a new thread if you want the answer shared, or send jolui a private message.

I live between the two winds so get lesser iterations from time to time. I can't say if Arles will be as uncomfortable in the fall as the area was when I lived in Cassis in the spring. I have been in Provence all along the Rhone valley many times these past few years in all seasons and have experienced the winds only once--last November. It was the luck of the draw that I've missed them because several were fixed-date day trips with my local organizations. So, I can't tell you how prevalent it is in autumn compared to winter and spring.

You'll be fine on the Riviera.

Thanks Elizabeth