Sarlat

Besançon

Annecy. It's in the Alps, yet has a lake and beach for summer time fun. Plus lots of fun canals running through the city. Old town is quaint.

Aix-en-Provence

Nice.

La Rochelle with the nearby Ile de Ré.

I like the vibe of Strasbourg, I think Aix may be too small for that length of time, but certainly central for some good days trips.

Second Nice, and the girls may like La Rochelle and Ile de Re. You have had some good suggestions.... Lyon?

Let us know what you decide,

La Rochelle (great fun for the girls) , Strasbourg, St Malo, Avignon

I second Sarlat. Stunning town, beautiful region with lots to do.

Metz or Nancy.

They have the advantage of being on a commuter train line that goes Luxembourg-Metz-Nancy with a spur over to Strasbourg. So if you ever need to do something different, it is just a short ride away with trains every 30 minutes or less.

Okay, I will throw in a few photo reports that I made:

Metz: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=france&action=display&thread=3702&page=1

Pompidou Center Metz: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=france&thread=4153&page=1#150349

Nancy: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=france&action=display&thread=5870

The Nancy fun fair: http://www.anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=pictures&thread=5865&page=1#135534

Strasbourg. You have the benefit of a multi-cultural town with a lot to see and do - plus visit Colmar for the day plus the towns on the wine route (adorable charming villages even if you don;t drink anythng).

Nice, which has a lot to see and do and would give you beach time for relaxation.

Frankly, neither Strasbourg or Nice qualifies as a "small" French city.

How about Troyes?

Another Annecy suggestion.

www.annecy-town.com/

Also, google images of Annecy for more inspiration.

Menton.

Annecy or Biarritz

I love it when people say the name of a city and don't bother to describe why it is desirable.

I have used Angers in the western Loire valley as a base for several days. And, so as not to offend Kerouacs' sensibilities, I will now elaborate as to WHY I have found Angers a city worthy of a week long stay: the Chateau d'Angers, the Musee Jean Lurcat, the nearby Cointreau distillery, proximity to Saumur, the Cathedrale St. Maurice. These and just the general vibe of Angers is why I would use it as a base for a week long stay.

We just got back from a week in Lyon, a medium sized city and way more laid back then Paris -- beautiful city, cute old town, great food, plenty to see, shopping - not sure what's nearby as we never left the city. Also spent 4 days in Dijon and it is quite charming. Not sure you could keep yourself occupied for a whole week, but Imagine drives into the country side would be nice. We went to BEaune for a day which is even more charming and smaller than Dijon. I've got trip reports on both stays. Both are quick and easy TGV trips from Paris -- about 90 minutes from Paris to Dijon and about 2 hours+ from CDG to LYon
Dijon TR
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/live-from-dijon.cfm
Lyon TR
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/live-from-lyon.cfm

See? That's more like it. Was it so hard? As to Lyon being a "medium-sized" city, I hope that nobody from Lyon, the 3rd largest city in France, will take offense, yestravel. But it is true, isn't it? Everything in Europe is so tiny and quaint that it doesn't match up to real countries, does it?

Yes, as I wrote that I laughed to myself given that Lyon is considered largish I guess for France, but really, its so easy to get around, and traffic didn't seem horrible and no crowds anywhere...it was a delight! And yes, "quaint" does describe much of what we have visited in Europe over the years. Even Paris which is definitely not small, is quaint in so many ways. American cities in general are just not quant, really not at all!

Kerouac: I love it when people say the name of a city and don't bother to describe why it is desirable.

I love when people post multiple times in the same thread just to critique the responses of others, and not to offer their own thoughts on the OP's question.

Sarlat was the first place that sprang to mind for me, before I opened the thread. One of my favorite small cities in Europe, and well within reach of many charming towns in the Dordogne Valley. It's probably on the small side of what one might consider a "city" but I'd recommend it nonetheless.

Dang. I swear to all that's righteous that I closed that tag

OP here. Great responses. Annecy looks delightful, easier if I could fly direct into Geneva rather than a long drive or train from CDG. Many other suggestions (Sarlat, Aix, Nice) just too far from Paris for "this" trip. Metz & Nancy seem lovely as well. Any thoughts on Besançon?

Again, I bring up Lucca. For those who have been to this special town and appreciate it the way we do, that's the size and vibe we're looking for.

Sarlat.

Kerouac-- your Reading & Comprehension needs some polishing-- the ORIGINAL POSTER defined WHAT he was looking for and is asking the name of a place which we think meets the criteria. Even the OP listed cities as a way of initiating a response.

No need to thank me for explaining it to you. That's what we here for.

It appears that people think anything but Paris is a "small" city even when they are twice the size or more of Lucca. Even Aix is larger than Lucca, so how could it be too small.

I think Dijon wouldn't be a bad idea (even it is a lot larger than Lucca), and also Avignon or Aix. I like Nancy, also. I think for a summer vacation, in combination with Paris, something in Provence might be a nice contrast, I guess you could throw Arles in there as it is about the size of Lucca, I think. I don't know how easy it is to rent a house in these cities, though, that sounds kind of difficult, but someplace outside them perhaps. But an entire house in a city? That might be the hard part.

Everyone seems to be a subjective population expert so let's try and "kwitcherbellyachin" as my father used to say.

Most of us, including me, failed miserably at meeting the OP's specific request (which she reiterated just recently); Sarlat and many others recommended are far too small and Dijon, Lyon, Nice, etc, even farther off the mark.

Lucca has a population of about 84,000 (2009). Allowing for a 20% variance both up and down, here are the French cities with equivalent populations :

37 Argenteuil(Ile-de-France) 101475
38 Saint-Denis(Ile-de-France) 96128
39 Roubaix(Nord-Pas-de-Calais) 95721
40 Tourcoing(Nord-Pas-de-Calais) 91574
41 Montreuil(Ile-de-France) 90652
42 Avignon(Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur) 89769
43 Asnieres-sur-Seine(Ile-de-France) 86742
44 Nanterre(Ile-de-France) 86719
45 Poitiers(Poitou-Charentes) 85960
46 Versailles(Ile-de-France) 85416
47 Courbevoie(Ile-de-France) 85158
48 Creteil(Ile-de-France) 84833
49 Pau(Aquitaine) 82697
50 Colombes(Ile-de-France) 82300
51 Vitry-sur-Seine(Ile-de-France) 81001
52 Aulnay-sous-Bois(Ile-de-France) 80615
53 La Rochelle(Poitou-Charentes) 76810
54 Champigny-sur-Marne(Ile-de-France) 76726
55 Rueil-Malmaison(Ile-de-France) 76616
56 Antibes(Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur) 76393
57 Saint-Maur-des-Fosses(Ile-de-France) 75402
58 Calais(Nord-Pas-de-Calais) 74433
59 Beziers(Languedoc-Roussillon) 74081
60 Dunkerque(Nord-Pas-de-Calais) 71287
61 Aubervilliers(Ile-de-France) 70914
62 Cannes(Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur) 70011
63 Merignac(Aquitaine) 69791
64 Bourges(Centre) 67987
65 Saint-Nazaire(Region Pays de la Loire) 67054
66 Colmar(Alsace) 65405


Annecy misses a little on the low side at 53,000 (2006) and Nancy and Metz a little on the high (105,000, and 123,000 respectively) but are certainly in the park. A lot in this list wouldn't be on most people's recommended list, for sure, but Colmar looks to be a new possibility.

We liked Bourges a lot for its walkable centers, its gorgeous cathedral, and it's pleasant situation. I wasn't driving so I paid no attention to the mileage, but we had looked at some Loire chateaux on our way there so I feel they are not far.

Is population the only criteria? Lots of towns may have a larger populations, but the core area for tourists is much smaller, so it seems silly to use that as the only criteria. From the list above Avignon is a nice town. Only spent a few days there so don't know what a week would be like. Certainly nicely placed for day trips though. Paris is crowded and busy, busy. Of all the towns mentioned in the above posts, none of them come close to the hustle bustle of Paris.

Since you mentioned Annecy then you might be interested in looking over my trip report about spending two weeks on the Lac d'Annecy last August. It's full of photos and descriptions of the places I visited so you can see if this area has what you're looking for. Lots of photos of Annecy too:

http://tinyurl.com/7er3tjn

Here's a link to the Annecy tourist office website:

http://en.lac-annecy.com/

Mr_go -- I'm so sorry. I missed your recommendations about places to go in your post where said that all I do is criticize the others in my posts, even though I proposed some cities and even gave photo links to show what they look like.

Perhaps you accidentally deleted the cities that you recommended.

If a "city" is small or not - sort of depends on perspective. I think of the tourist area - not the entire metro are - and to me Strasbourg is small.

As for Lucca and 80,000 - to me that's not a city at all - but a fairly small town.

Sorry - the suburban county in which I grew up is about 1.4 million and the township is about 225K.

Montpellier is 3hrs from Paris by TGV.

It has the advantage of 300+ days of sunshine, a tram system and nearby Med beaches.

nytraveler, in Europe Lucca is a city big enough to have been at several times in its history a capital of an indipendent state. In the German world the city status is an historical thing, so even the tiny Rattenberg, Austria, only two blocks wide and housing 400 persons, can legally use the title of being a city.

Going back to the original topic, it looks I am the only one to consider Besançon. I was there in September and I found a very nice place - part of the city was closed for installing a new tram line but this should find an end.

I think Perpignan would suit what you're looking for down to the ground, the perfect size for walking around with plenty to do in the city itself, but it's also a wonderful base for seeing more of the absolutely wonderful Languedoc-Roussillon region. You can go up to the Pyrenees or take the train to Collioure, which is a stunning small fortified seaside village. It's not too far from Barcelona (2.5 hrs on the train) so that makes a fantastic trip obviously, also quite close to Carcassonne (has to be seen! Ridiculously beautiful). There is a strong Catalan influence in this part of France, it feels like a real melting pot of French and Spanish culture. The food here is the best I've had in any part of France and it's a very reasonably priced region to holiday in! Cannot recommend it enough. If you need further information let me know as I know Perpignan extremely well.

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Tourism-g187149-Languedoc_Roussillon-Vacations.html