Provence solo tips

Hello! I'm planning to visit Provence for the first time in late September/early October. I'm thinking 9-12 days total, with hopefully 2-3 days in Paris at the beginning. I would say I'm a moderately experienced traveler and have visited Europe a couple of times with others, but this is my first solo trip (33F) and I want something relaxing and safe. I feel comfortable driving and would plan to take the train from Paris. I've read that Saint-Remy is a popular base--is this substantiated, or is there a 'better' home base from which to do day trips? I've also considered L'Isle sur la Sorgue, Aix-en-Provence.

I love good food, history/architecture, hiking, strolling, and high on my list are visiting some Nostradamus sites (Salon-de-Provence and Saint-Remy), perhaps hiking and/or viewing some Roman ruins, and hopefully enjoying some markets. I truly love walking in a city for miles and stopping as I go to check out whatever food/shops/historical sights I find.

I fully accept that I am a tourist but find a Disneyland-like atmosphere stressful and sad, so I hope to mostly avoid that, but I'm getting worried that Provence is highly commercialized. For example, I found Edinburgh gorgeous, but people seemed to flock to the Royal Mile and it felt stressful and unpleasant to me to spend time there.

Any tips, advice?