The speed is relative and can be viewed in two ways: that of the life you live or that of the lives of the people around you. 
Done London but wouldn’t want to do New York, or any other big city for that matter unless just as a tourist!
‘Speedy parisians’ are now running away from the capital: many go to Bordeaux, britain and to small cities where they can remotely work.
In this perspective, easy public transportation is decisive.
Probably not so many anymore
Britain read brittany 
Oh the tourists, bane of my life in New York and London. Prone to stop dead in their track to admire whatever… Crossing the street in groups of 50 - Japanese tour groups Christmas shopping on Regent Street.
It was wonderful just for the ease of getting around by public transport which doesn’t exist in our part of the Charente. We unfortunately need a car for everything. And I greatly miss the cinemas. Leicester Square premieres, even the IMAX in Perth was huge compared to our little movie theatres.
BUT - I would not change our rural life for a big city again. Ever.
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I lived in Las Vegas for 10 years and felt this pain.
I’m in Portland OR (NW US near Seattle WA) which is also a good size city so looking forward to a slower pace. There is daily gunfire (multiple times per day), frequent riots, high crime, homeless camps everywhere, graffiti, garbage everywhere… I want peace, quiet and ducks
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Short wishlist 
Shooting - frequently from September until March. France loves the hunt - with dogs.
Riots - mostly in the big cities. Even then nothing like east L.A.
Graffiti - street art. Some is great but the Mairie is usually on the ball and gets it cleaned.
Garbage - depends on the wildlife. Had a few recycling bags rummaged thru. Took a while to find it all and get it back in the bag.
Honestly, life in rural France has mostly problems with transportation and bureaucracy. It took a year for OH carte de Sejour, my health coverage, 6 months for a driver’s license…
If you pick a little hamlet, shopping needs a plan and a larder. Our nearest bakery is 6km, shops are between 8 and 25 km. Never mind a quick trip to IKEA - 2 hours in the car.
Suggest you get a rental and check out French life for a couple of months - but not in the summer. Try it out in the spring/ late autumn. Climate is very like Oregon.
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Sometimes the Mairie is even more on the ball and brings in renowned graffiti artists to work with school kids during holidays and smother the crepi-coated walls of municipal buildings in the most amazing designs and patterns. 
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We had this in our little Scottish town. Sadly not enough youngsters in our hamlet to even contemplate a
graffiti session…
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Organized-graffiti…
One year our school kids decorated planks.
Every child signed-off his/her offering.
The planks were then put underneath where the swallows nest (each year) in the eves of the school building, fronting the road.
The idea was to catch the gunk/droppings before it splattered the windows beneath… as well as making a delightful artistic offering to please the passersby…
The planks lasted for several years and they (and the swallows) gave great pleasure to all.
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Has Portland deteriorated that much, Lizzy?
Hi Lizzy. I may be able to offer some help as I live near Bordeaux (in the Medoc region, to be precise… only about 50KMs but still takes an hour by car 
) and my partner is originally from near Limoges (her mother actually lives in Limoges itself), so I’ve got to know it too over the years 
I’m sure you’re aware already that Bordeaux is significantly bigger than Limoges. I think the population of Limoges is around 135,000 in the city and 285,000 in the urban area, whereas the population of Bordeaux itself is over 250k and if you include the wider Bordeaux Metropole then it’s closer to 800k.
As well as the much larger population, the amount of traffic is drastically different too. Limoges can get frustrating, e.g. trying to park in the city centre on a Saturday morning can take a while to find a parking spot… in Bordeaux traffic is a complete nightmare whatever day of the week you visit (hence why I park outside the city and catch the tram instead).
Also, the cost of housing in Bordeaux is eye-wateringly more expensive than Limoges. It’s not quite Parisian prices, but it’s not far off sadly.
As you said elsewhere that you’re looking for “somewhere quiet and rural within reasonably easy driving distance to a city” then I’d avoid Bordeaux itself, and look instead at somewhere like Libourne, Lacanau (if you like being near the sea) or even a bit further afield to La Reole.
As for Limoges, have you considered Bellac? It’s about 50 KMs out of Limoges, but it’s definitely rural and quiet. You can get a lot of house for your money there too!
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If you mean somewhere between Limoges and Bordeaux, consider transportation (Limoges has no rapid train), geography (the foothills of Massif Central provide nice hilly landscapes, while around Bordeaux is rather flat, but you might require a rapid access to the ocean ?), ecology (wine lands are heavily polluted by pesticides), price (approaching large cities and jobs is expensive), agriculture (crops or breeding, i.e. flat or hilly). So, I would say - and this was my personal choice - that at some distance away south or east of Angoulême fullfills most of these items.
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Yes, Mostly in the last 4-5 years. Portland is really pretty and has a lot of interesting character…motto “Keep Portland Weird”. US politics being what it is there isn’t anywhere in the US I’d want to move to.
Gareth Thanks so much for your suggestions. I will take a look at these areas
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Thanks Roberto!
Lizzy! I also live in the Portland area! And we are in the same boat as you, planning to move to France this spring/summer. My partner and I just spent nearly three months in France this fall. We did not find “the” place so we are planning to rent and travel around a bit more. Would love to connect and meet up for coffee.
I’ve been following the responses here and also appreciate what a helpful group this is!
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Sorry–meant to reply only to Liz. Just another overenthusiastic American , eeks!
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When moving to a rural area, and interested in environment for your new home (relief, rivers, agriculture, risks, etc…), I highly recommend the amazing geoportail web site from french adminstration, where you can vizualize everything about geography. Many different layers are provided and may be superimposed. Here is an example:
:WMTS(1)&v1=PLAN.IGN::GEOPORTAIL:GPP:TMS(1;h;s:standard)&l2=HYDROGRAPHY.HYDROGRAPHY::GEOPORTAIL:OGC:WMTS(1)&l3=GEOGRAPHICALGRIDSYSTEMS.PLANIGNV2::GEOPORTAIL:OGC:WMTS(0.55;h)&l4=GEOGRAPHICALGRIDSYSTEMS.MAPS::GEOPORTAIL:OGC:WMTS(0.11)&permalink=yes
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The downside with the likes of geoportal, google maps ,etc, is that the images can be quite old .For positional stuff ok, but for current situation not so good.