As a Francophile, I'd politely ask you to reconsider your decision to not visit Paris. I liked it enough to visit three times and am very seriously considering living a month or two in Paris this year before the Olympics kicks off.

Even if you don't plan to spend much time in the city, I'd put in a good word for Epicure in Le Bristol Paris, which stands out in my mind as very possibly the best meal I have ever had in my life. Now, I know we both share an interest in partaking of gustatory delights, so I would be remiss if I didn't mention this to you.

I'd also considered L'Ambroisie in Paris, but I ended up not going (for reasons I will mention later). It's an oversight I hope to rectify soon.

Anyway, I'd recommend considering two weeks in major destinations, instead of a week. Having travelled a bit post-COVID, I've found it somewhat annoying to move from one place to the next every week or so. It takes about a day to get settled in to your new location, and another day to pack and prepare for the move to the next destination. This means, in a 7 day stay, you'd spend about 2-2.5 days getting settled in, or about a third of the time you're travelling. This much "prep time" detracts from the experience, if you ask me. This is particularly relevant if you intend to "hit the Michelin stars."

The last time I was in Paris, I had the idea to do a 9-Michelin-star day, i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner in three different 3-Michelin star venues. By the time I was done, I don't know how the wait staff rolled me out of the room. I had planned on L'Ambroisie two days after the 9-Michelin-star day, except I was still stuffed the next day, so I called the restaurant to say I was unwell. I ended up going for pho instead. Subsequently, I cancelled a few other restaurants because I felt physically unable to sit through another 3-4 hour marathon with 9-12 courses.

Mind you, I was in my early 30s. I can imagine the constitution of two retirees in their early 50s would be less up to the challenge of too many Michelin-starred meals, hence the need to pace yourself accordingly.

You will also need to set aside some breathing space to accommodate other "very stupid but very necessary" choices. For instance, if you go to Lyon, and you don't stuff your face with the legendary President cake at Bernachon (unless you've had it already), you can't say you've really visited the city. Throw in the city's praline tarts, wines, and cheeses, and you will need to take very long walks to work it all off...

I'd also consider maybe renting a good car in Nice and doing the southern France route and stopping at the picturesque towns like Villefranche-sur-Mer, Eze, Monaco, Menton, and Ventimiglia (Italy). It's got to be one of the great drives!

Now, about Taiwan, I've only been for a week. I liked it but, as a tourist destination, it has its limitations. The effects of decades of Chinese interference means they've had limited investment and have been fairly isolated from the international community... and it sort of shows.

It's a nice place to chill and connect with traditional Chinese culture, though.