Oh definitely, I'd say pretty much EVERYTHING in Toussaint is worth exploring. It's really tight and cohesive and reminds me of White Orchard in that sense. I was mostly responding the guy's question about the main game.
And they definitely added MORE notes / journals / side-stories to the scrappy little camps, nests and outposts, but there was also quite a bit of that in the main game. I remember almost all the treasure hunts and such having their own personal stories, some of them surprisingly poignant. Though I will say that the newly added Manticore gear quest was my favorite in that regard.
Ya, to clarify, my question was regarding the main game. The main reason I am working through it now it because I want to play the expansions.
I don't want a followup to the books, I want CD Projekt doing their own thing, which the expansions seem to be. I'm not necessarily disliking the main game, but expansions are definitely where my interest is.
I will clear the expansions for certain, but there are so many in the base game that if I were to do them all it would ruin the pacing and from what I've experienced so far, result in some pretty aggressive overleveling.
Edit: Should also mention I am 40 hours into the game at this point and my quest log is pretty bogged down by witcher contracts that are 3 levels below me or so, leading me to ask.
Thank you all for your replies.