France is awesome. I loved it there. We stayed in the north east(ish), a town called Nogent-Le-Rotrou in Eure-et-Loire, on the border of Normandy iirc. The countryside is beautiful around there, and we loved LeMans. I would have loved to spend more time in Paris, but we only got one day there. The upper class got two, boo. I always wanted to go see the catacombs- instead I got to see Whistler's Mother and every postcard stand and bridge from Musee d'Orsay to Notre Dame. :D (And lots of other things- Champs Elysee, Arc de Triomphe, some 14th century chapel whose name I can't recall that had the bible in stained glass all over- it's amazing what you can pack into a day.)

If you're going to be based in that area anyhow, I suggest Rouen. I really loved it there. The cathedral is amazing, and you can go see where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake! (We were morbid teenagers, okay?)

Giverny is also nice, though in five weeks I'm not sure if it's open or if it would be nice to look at if it was (we went in mid-April).

Mont St. Michel is a trek from Paris, and we never went (schedule was too tight), but I heard it's really awesome.