Where would be good places to get off the train

Paris and Lyon are both wonderful cities, but my first love in France was/is Provence. Consider getting to Lyon "the long way," heading south to Avignon for at least 2-3 nights. Avgnon has the not-to-be-missed Les Halles indoor market, a wonderful small city inside the old town walls, and the Pope's Palace, among other delights. Based in Avignon, you can easily take the bus to visit Arles, Nimes, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Saint-Remy-de Provence, Roussillon, etc. Hotels are an option, but if you're staying for several nights, you can even find a value apartment (maybe even with air-conditioning!), inside the city walls ("Intra-murros") online thru HomeAway or Gites de France. Then head north to Lyon, maybe by way of Aix-en-Provence.

You probably know this, but each stop you make will require a separate ticket to continue. The trains are not hop-on, hop-off.

Beaune.....

Thanks folks the idea of going south to Avignon first is ver appealing. I do realise trains aren't hop on hop off Ha! I have heard Beune is lovely maybe go from there to Avignon then back to Lyon? Does anyone know if this is feasible by train? Thanks again.

Yes, those destinations are all served by train. How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it.

Hi,

Between Paris and Lyon...Dijon. On the way to Stuttgart...Tübingen and Hechingen from the south, but they are not villages.

So many choices...

Paris-Lyon-Beaune-Colmar-Strasbourg-Stuttgart

Paris-Avignon-Lyon-Annecy-Geneva-Strasbourg-Stuttgart

These are both straight routes
But pick and choose, you can't do it all in 10 days.
The first has shorter train times.