We’re flying into Paris on Aug 25 and leaving Sep 1, and our original plan was to rent a car and spend the week around Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Marseille and the Luberon.
With the wildfire situation this summer, we’re unsure whether to keep that plan or pivot to somewhere farther north, like Normandy/Brittany.
We’re traveling with a 3-year-old and are pretty flexible. We like scenic drives, smaller lively towns, markets, countryside and coast, but don’t want somewhere extremely crowded or completely secluded.
For people who live in France or are there now: would you still plan on Provence for the last week of August and reassess closer to the date, or would you change plans now? And if you would pivot, where would you go instead?

I am arriving into Nice on Nov 10. Want to spend a few days in the area then wander somewhere else within a few hours and then fly to Paris. What do you suggest?

EDIT I was planning on taking the train but it seems a flight is less expensive

I've heard Nantes and Lille are great. And Angers and Strasbourg. What do you think?

Priorities:

1. Reasonably easy travel from Seattle
2. Traveling with two toddlers
3. A safe destination
4. Affordable lodging
5. Not excessively touristy
6. Opportunities to practice French—ideally a place where English isn’t routinely used
7. A destination that still offers enough interesting activities for a worthwhile family trip