suggestions for staying in a nice city or town between Chamonix and Paris

Lyon and Dijon are two that are en route to Paris from Chamonix.

hey hey pjmun
from one "hawaiian to another hawaiian" (big island from hilo/hamakua)
we spent 5 nights in annecy on the lake.we loved it, walked the city center during their farmer's market day, had lunch one day with calzones and pizza, another with savory and sweet crepes, hole in the wall for a fondue prix fixe near a canal, was yummy, a 5 hour tour attractions in annecy to towns/villages around the lake, stopped at cal de la forclaz to watch hang gliding over lake and us, cows with cowbells on making music in pastures (bought 2 cowbells there for a memeory of my mom that was a cowgirl on a private ranch near parker ranch waimea, went to a privarte cow/cheese farm for a meal with their cheese specialty, place on like a pizza oven to melt and put on baguette and potatoes. something so so different. reataurant had glass floors to see cows relaxing in the hay. one of my favorites activities. ready toleave caught train to paris about 3+ hours. great weekend getaway, 6 days in paris before flying home to SFO. my friend is french basque and of course her favorite city is paris. good lunch with what you do & have fun with ohana
aloha

My pick would be Semur en Auxois which we have in fact used for a drive from Provence to Paris. Gorgeous medieval walls and towers -- decent enough restaurants and such. Walk a bit outside the walls to see it at night. We liked it so much on our one night stop in transit that we later returned and rented a cottage at the base of the walls by the stream for a week -- it was a great base for touring Burgundy sites.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/medieval-towns/

Auxerre is another good pick -- we stayed at a place right near the river and below the castle which had on site parking on a trip from Rocquebrune to Paris. Walkable picturesque center with plenty of restaurants.

Beaune is another choice further south and has some interesting buildings like the famous Hotel Dieu. Again plenty of local amenities.

Mahalo to all of you for your suggestions! Really appreciate it.

And Janet, thank you for sharing all the pics!