Hi Singletrack!
I live near Aix en Provence and Marseille. Here you can easily reach Paris by train (3h15mn) or any european capital by plane (I heard that easyjet will fly to Manchester next year...)
Renting a house with a litle garden and 4 bedrooms is about 1200 euros a month (if you wish to stay close to Aix) but it's difficult to get one!. You can have a look on :
www.petites-annonces.fr Bonne chance :-)