Where to stay for 2 months in France (June, July 2021)

Sounds to me like Paris or Lyon would fit the bill. Four weeks in Paris would be wonderful though you may not have as much nature as you would like.

we are spending the first week in Paris. Is Lyon a big city feel? Or does it still have the quaint feel of a French town? Does it have nature nearby as well?

Lyon is a big city, but is also considered the culinary capital of France. The forum can be helpful to you with a little more information from you. Are you looking for an area where one daughter might want to attend a cooking class/school? Architecture in France is everywhere. I lived in Uzes for 6 weeks a few years ago - a wonderful Saturday market and some shops. The architecture is lovely. There’s also a cooking school taught in English by a French chef. Several AirB&Bs.
Will you have a car? You mention a study abroad type vacation - can you be more specific?
I’m sure you know that France doesn’t open to American tourists until June 9. Good luck.

We are desiring less of a touristy vacation and more of the experience of 'living' in France. I want a quaint, beautiful place to stay as a base where we can walk around, discover bakeries, shops, restaurants and markets. We plan to take the train as transportation to other locations during our stay for day trips or 2-3 day trips. We definitely plan to seek out culinary classes for my daughter while we are there. I guess I am having trouble deciding on a location that's not too big and not too small. Aix-Provence is an idea as of now. I thought maybe Bordeaux but after reading some posts on here, maybe that isn't as picturesque as I had thought. I would love any suggestions/insights :)

You do not have much time to strategize if you are planning to spend 2 months in France beginning this June, just weeks away. No one really knows yet what is going to be open, what businesses will survive, and government has left local confinements/closures on the table depending upon potential infection rates. The removal of all restrictions from the confinement does not occur until the end of June.

Trips of this type might take months to plan and there is much to consider: how old are your daughters? Does anyone speak French (or are you looking for classes only in English?) Beautiful nature typically points to a countryside base. Architecture, shopping, markets, and restaurants indicate a city base.

If you have never been to France before, consider one base of 3 to 4 weeks, logically Pairs if this is your first time, and rent a car and travel for 3 to 4 weeks to better understand the country. To avoid disappointment and without a rather firm idea of where you want to go, take a few weeks to explore a couple regions such as Normandy/Brittany or Normandy/Loire Valley, or Burgundy/Alsace. You may be able to travel June w/o reservations, but July will be difficult - August next to impossible, particularly anywhere near the water. August is when most of the entire country of France is on vacation, just in case you were considering sliding your time a few weeks to later in the year.

Another consideration is that many European vacationers who typically travel abroad have been staying in France making reservations more a concern for June/July than it used to be.

Sounds wonderful but you may want to try the south of France first. Paris is a huge culture shock even as a seasoned Europe traveler (or atleast it was for me at age 18.) Try Montpellier or Aix en Provence as people in the south are more welcoming and it might be a good way to ease into France.

With the Covid situation in France, I am not sure if cookery classes will be running as early as June and July. Macron has said they are aiming for the end of June to get things moving, but this doesn’t mean that life will be back to as it was. Luckily, their vaccination programme is increasing, but it’s off a low base.

Paris Covid numbers keep it in the red zone, where restrictions are likely to continue for longer. Be prepared for areas to move in and out of the red zone whilst you are there and at short notice.

La Rochelle would fit your brief - some great food markets, a word class aquarium, shops galore, a fantastic coastline with some pretty villages plus the nearby islands of Re and Oleron for safe cycling between chocolate box villages and oyster farms serving their freshly caught produce by the wayside. Take a boat trip, assuming they are running or explore the castles and fortifications.

This section of coast supposedly has the most sunshine other than the Med coast and it won’t be as busy relatively.

You may want to take a look at France's current reopening plans (here is one overview in English) to get a sense of what the situation will look like--there will be a curfew through the end of June, for example. Note: there will also be changing rules in areas with very high incidence rates, even in the reopening plan, although the threshold for those restrictions seems (in comparison to those we have in Germany) quite high.

Also: Depending on what you mean by cooking classes, it may be a bit tricky to find things that are immediately open once the restrictions have been relaxed--especially things aimed at English-speaking audiences, given the low tourism rates and so on.

This is all to say...you might be best to prepare yourselves for a holiday that is still quite shaped by coronavirus restrictions. Perhaps planning for smaller towns where there is a lot of outdoor activities might be a good direction?

Regarding Paris (I don't personally think it's a huge culture shock) and pre-planning....

I imagine visiting the museums is high on your art major's list? When they are open again (scheduled for May 19) I am guessing that many will be requiring advance, timed-entry tickets for visitors, and the number of those tickets available will be limited for crowd control/social distancing. In fact, the Paris Museum Pass page notes:

The booking of a time slot is now obligatory for most places. This
should be done directly on the partner's website after having booked
your Pass. We invite you to consult this document to check whether or
not it is necessary to book a timeslot.

https://booking.parisinfo.com/il4-offer_i148-paris-museum-pass-entry-to-50-museums-and-monuments.aspx

This text applied to the last time the museums were open, and I'll wager will apply once they're open again. Once tickets go on sale (sale dates may vary per museum: I see that slots for Musée d'Orsay and l’Orangerie go on sale May 6th) I'd expect a scramble for them so you'd want to have some sort of plan in place (solid dates for your stay in the city) and able to book quickly on their individual websites. In addition, I'd expect masking requirements of some sort or another all the way through France.

Paris for sure. I've been there twice and the first time we spent 5 nights - after which I was ready to move on because it was getting kind of too much of the same if you know what I mean. If I had 6-8 weeks I'd travel around exploring the country spending 3-4 nights in the larger places and 1-2 in the smaller. If you have a car and only take 1 bag its no big deal to move around. We've toured in Normandy, the Loire Valley, and the Alsace region. I would recommend all 3. On our next trip to France we're planning to visit the Côte d'Azur and if time permits Provence. If you decide not to tour and base in 2 places I'd pick Paris and the Côte d'Azur/Provence area.

I wouldn’t want to stay in Nimes but I would love to stay in very nearby St Rémy, a lovely, charming small town with a famous outdoor market, wonderful shops and good food. Easy to visit other towns and villages from there.

Paris for sure. I’ve never heard anyone say they experienced culture shock there... it’s a wonderful, beautiful and very fun city.

La Rochelle would be great. In addition to Paris and Provence, I would also recommend Burgundy. I love Normandy but I don’t think it fits the bill for you.

I would stay in the Burgundy area. Beaune is a smallish, lovely town. I personally stay in Meursault and drive around the area. Biking through the vineyards, Beaune's Saturday morning market, taking the train to Dijon, driving to small, quaint towns are some of the things I've enjoyed. Oh, yes, I forgot--wine tasting. Have a great trip making lifetime memories with your girls!

It's hard to get restaurants, bakeries, and a lot of experiences in a village. Villages are good for quiet walks and down time. You will also have a hard time getting transportation to different places. Rather than just two places, you could give your daughters a bit of a tour de France in two months.

The Loire Valley is famous for its cooking and has a train line running the length, so you can visit in a couple of directions. Burgundy, for transportation, you should base in Dijon, the historic capital of the Duchy of Burgundy, and the transportation hub. Burgundy cuisine is famous. Montpellier isn't a bad idea because it is a bit of a transportation hub. It is also a university and medical school city (fifth in size in France), so there are a lot of expats from all over studying and researching, which also means a lot of international restaurants. For local specialties, you have to dig. Day trips to Séte will give you the seafood, Nimes, Beziers, the Camargue, Carcassonne, etc. I'd throw in a fourth region: Brittany, famous for its seafood, crèpes, galettes (buckwheat crèpes), cider, prehistoric standing stones, and more. Your transportation hub is Rennes, the historic capital of Brittany. I've always had a car in Brittany, but check out trips to St. Malo, Vannes, and many, many more.

So instead of two bases, I'd go for four: Paris and three others. Bon voyage.

Here's my 2 centimes' worth:)

I'm assuming you're locked into June/July due to your daughters' schooling? If at all possible, I'd highly recommend waiting till fall or later due to 1) Covid is still an issue and when/if everything is opening is still questionable and 2) summer in France is HOT:)

I second what the previous poster said about using Rennes as a base. I spent a month there in September 2016 (second largest flea market in France sprawls along the canal) and had day trips to Fougeres, Vitre and Dinan. I opted to stay overnight 1-2 nights for trips to St. Malo, Mont St Michel, Vannes and Nantes. Rennes has a wonderful art museum. You'll see Picasso's painting that was featured in Midnight in Paris:) Train and bus transportation are super accessible and cheap. I didn't rent a car.

Just a couple of things to remember: I was in Paris for a month in July a couple of years ago & experienced both Fete Nationale (what we call Bastille Day) on July 14th & the finish of the Tour de France in Paris. Both are celebrated all across France and both were a blast. Plan to be some place for both events. The fireworks in Paris were actually coming out of the Eiffel Tower on July 14th & there were parties all over the city (including at some fire stations). People all over France line the streets just to see 30 seconds of Tour bicyclists going by. The Tour starts at the end of June & runs through the middle of July. The route this year is online & is being run entirely in France due to covid (something to be aware of &, as was said, check for restrictions no matter where you go).
Also that year, the temps across France hit near 100(F) during a heat wave last week of June & first week of July (not all that unusual for that time) & it was pouring rain for the end of the Tour that Sunday in Paris (be prepared!).
Carcassonne, anyone? Bon voyage!

Does your health insurance cover you and your daughters in Europe? If not, Blue Cross sells a reasonably priced plan. I assume you've made plans for COVID testing if your daughters have not been vaccinated? I assume that you also know that you will need to limit your baggage when using trains since you will most likely have to put it on and off the trains yourself. These are things I would not have known when I made my first trip to Europe. It really does take a good bit of research to be ready for such a great trip as the one you are planning.

Great reminders, Cala, and a reminder that the Rick Steves books are always a great resource for helping travelers think of things we don't even know we need to think of! Kjsacriste, I highly recommend getting a copy of Rick's France guidebook, it will be invaluable in helping you prepare.

Ummm the OP posted 3 times in one day and has not been back since-- her posts were made over 2 weeks ago. I suspect what she is looking for is a village like Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val. It was heavily used the movie The Hundred-Foot Journey. A very charming village but not quite as charming in real life as it is in the movies.... again, a wonderful village but movies are filmed from a very specific angle, in specific light (or filtered light), the scenes are highly contrived --2 'stops' while out strolling in a movie may look 2 minutes apart but in real life they could be an hour apart, as are the "people" (cast, extras etc).

Almost everyone here is looking "for that" village whether it be France, England, Austria, or Italy...and if anyone found it- would they tell anyone? Well Rick did...5 villages to be exact and we know what happened there with publicity.

Thank you so much for all of your input and suggestions. I appreciate you all taking the time so much!

kjsacrite- look up Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in France-- I suspect it is as close as you are going to get.

Kjsa, let us know what you decide! My husband and I are going to Aix for similar reasons this fall. With so many great places, it was a difficult decision.

Since it’s your first trip to Europe, I also put a vote in for Paris. There are very charming neighborhoods, cobblestone streets, architecture and cafes everywhere. Look at the 6th and 7th arrondissements.

An add on to my previous post and staying in Paris... Paris is not like any other city I’ve been to, it does not feel overwhelming and claustrophobic, it feels very open and airy with the beautiful river running through the middle, two small islands in the center, and wide walking “paths” along both sides of the river. And, there’s lots of places in Paris to feel like you’re out in nature, with the many large and beautiful parks (the Luxembourg Gardens is my favorite) and the Bois de Boulogne park bordering the west side of Paris and the Bois de Vincennes park bordering the east side of Paris. So, Paris has wonderful bits of everything... a perfect city imo.

I would highly recommend the French Riviera as a base after your time in Paris. You could take the high speed train from Paris to Nice, and either use Nice as a base or a smaller town like Villefranche sur Mer as a base. The Cote d'Azur is great because the Mediterranean and mountains in the background are spectacular. It is easy to take the train or a bus to Antibes, Cannes, the hilltop village of Eze, St. Jean Cap Ferrat, or Monaco. The Old town area of Nice has a market and great restaurants and Villefranche sur Mer is charming with wonderful seaside restaurants and a lovely shale beach. Flying into Paris and out of Nice would be ideal. There are also art museums in Nice and Antibes.