The way the French Revolution is often presented, it seems like it took place almost entirely in Paris. I am aware of a bit of what was going outside of Paris, like counter-revolution in The Vendée and the royal family's attempted escape from the country. But was the Revolution really as focused on the capital city as it seems to a layman? And what might an average person's experience have been during the Revolution outside of Paris, either in another city or in the countryside?
You're absolutely correct that Paris gets most of the spotlight—although it's not entirely undeserved. While in the early stages of the Revolution (1789-92) Paris was the center of the 'Revolutionary Spirit,' from the overthrow of the monarchy (1792) through the fall of Robespierre (1794) Paris was the center of power. Particularly under the Committee of Public Safety in late 1793-1794, all marching orders (literally and figuratively; both military and political matters were handled by the CPS) came from the twelve.
However, one city does not a Revolution make. There were absolutely pockets of dissent—as you highlighted, the Vendée was the most gruesome, and the largest—but Frenchmen in almost every town, and especially in every city, could be found who supported the new order. Whether that was tacit approval or wholesale involvement in the local Jacobin club chapters, the newly formed 'French' took to the Revolution with zeal.
Taking a broad overview before looking at specific examples, there was certainly a difference between very rural areas, towns, and the mid- to large cities of France. All of these municipalities participated in the Revolution, but in different capacities. Much like the initial spirit of the sans-culotte in Paris, the peasants in the most rural villages were far more concerned with immediate economic relief than with erudite political and social reforms. One of the most impactful, driving events of the early Revolution was the "Great Fear," taking place in the summer of 1789. This was a panic started by the uncertainty around the Estates General in Paris, that filtered out into a perverse game of telephone into the provinces. Rumors swirled that the monarchy had hired thugs to come 'persuade' the peasants into paying their dues that they had been shirking while the Estates met, terrible economic conditions meant that groups of vagabonds were wandering the roadways, they were mistaken for the bandits....you see where this is going. In the end, the panic led to peasants in rural areas across France burning feudal records, sometimes chateaux, and less often their local nobleman along with it.
In response to the Fear the Estates (now National Assembly) cancelled all feudal dues (*though they'd attempt to get the peasants to buy out the due holders, this never really happened). At this, the peasants outside of the Vendée really exit the core of the Revolution. The rural areas would become hotbeds of dissent, particularly relating to religion, but outside of the Vendée there weren't concerted efforts to rebel.
The towns and cities were far more patchy in their support. I've used this analogy a lot in describing pre-Revolutionary France, but it really was akin to a patchwork quilt, sewn together not by any nationalistic cohesion, but by the person of the King. There was a plurality of languages, cultural traditions, and most importantly to the Revolution there was a huge variance in the political agreement regions had with the King. When a new territory had been added to the Kingdom—even individual cities—a treaty was signed guarenteeing specific rights, responsibilities, and obligations. This is a huge reason why no one could agree on how to save France on the eve of Revolution—it wasn't just the nobles refusing to give up rights (in many cases, it wasn't even predominantely the nobles); rather, it was an issue of individuality trumping a not-yet-ingrained sense of 'French' national pride.
Of course, therefore, when the Revolution did break out there was a lot of individual factors that determined committment to the government in Paris, and to the wider ideals of Revolution. It's also complicated in that the answer to this question changes quite drastically over the course of the Revolution—the most glaring example is Marseille. The French National anthem, La Marseillese, was written during the Revolution. The Naitonal Guard from Marseille were the front line in the insurrection of August 10th (overthrow of the King). And yet within a year the city was in revolt against Paris. Attitudes changed quickly; as did the Revolution itself.
Broadly speaking, cities and towns had a core group of leaders who were very involved with the Revolution, from 1789 onward. This was due in large part to the efforts of the Jacobin club early on to form member clubs in each and every town and city in France—and in virtually all municipalities there were ambitious, progressive young men who were more than happy to get in on the action. The Jacobins sponsored pamphlets, created regional connections between member clubs, and increasingly helped provide a cohesion in policy across France. No mean feat.
A great example of this is the Flight of the King. Louis managed to get pretty far from Paris—almost to the Austrian border—before being returned. When he was recognized (which was more than once), stunned local leaders were shocked; they didn't know what to do, and sent envoys in a flurry between neighbor towns, begging for advice, aide, lookouts. The post-master Drouet who recognized Louis and rode ahead fatefully to Varennes had been so warned that a potential royal fugitive was coming his way. Drouet convinced the mayor of Varennes, a firm Revolutionary, to halt the King. Once this was decided, there was little chance at escape. There was virtually no effort, outside of singular noblemen, to persuade the crowds by word or force to free the King. Louis made the 250km trek back to Paris, passing through town after town that supported the Revolution and was apalled by his actions. The local Jacobin clubs were key in building such a widespread cohesion in such a short amount of time.
The Jacobin clubs would become the ruling local governments after 1792, and through 1795. While Paris housed the central government, the local leaders still held immense power and importance. It was up to them how they wished to interpret orders from Paris, how harsh (or lenient) they wished to be, and how to integrate their particular corner of France with the overall national unity that was being attempted. Typically, each town and city had a local government of various size, consisting of a mayor and numerous other municipal leaders. These smaller areas were then under the jurisdiction of the departmental government. The departments were created in 1789 to erase the old provincial boundaries to try and loose the ancient regional bonds. These departmental governments were staffed with Jacobin supporters, usually pulled from the local municipalities, and tasked with being the arm of the central government.
(contd. in comment below)