I was just looking at the France This Way website and while it does cover most of France and is good for an overview it is not very thorough and is lacking in a lot of the small details and specifics because it is covering the whole country. I'll suggest you'll get better info by looking at the regional tourist office websites and then the individual town tourist office websites within each region. Of course, good guidebooks for each region are useful as well.

Let me give you a few useful websites for Champagne and Burgundy to get you started:

Champagne -

http://www.champagne-ardenne-tourism.co.uk/default.aspx

http://www.aube-champagne.com/fr/default.asp

http://ca-en.franceguide.com/what-to-do/art-of-living/vineyard-map/home.html?NodeID=248

http://www.tourisme-langres.com/

http://www.reims-tourisme.com/

http://www.ot-epernay.com/

http://www.tourisme-troyes.com/

Burgundy -

http://www.bourgogne-tourisme.com/

http://www.cotedor-tourisme.com/

http://www.ot-beaune.fr/

http://www.visitdijon.com/

http://www.road-of-the-fine-burgundy-wines.com/

http://www.burgundy-wines-tourism.fr/


For accommodation likes gîtes and chambre d'hôtes you can use many websites and these ones will get you started:

http://www.gites-de-france.com/location-vacances-chambre-hotes.html

http://www.chambresdhotesfrance.com/


In order to find your way around and to explore and get lost on the small country roads passing through quaint villages and hamlets get your hands on the Michelin maps. You want the ones of the scale 1:200,000 (regional maps) or 1:150,000 (departmental maps, more detailed, cover slightly less area) for whatever regions you visit. A nice feature of the 1:150,000 maps is they show the starred attractions in the corresponding Michelin Green guidebooks. The Michelin maps have icons for all kinds of historically/touristically interesting things such as châteaux, ruins, churches, abbeys, scenic view points, caves, Roman sites, megaliths, designated scenic roads and many other things. Usually when I'm exploring various regions in France I just look at the map and I am able to plan interesting and scenic drives just reading the map. For instance, I usually look for a designated scenic road, which are highlighted in green, and I especially look for towns with the historic church and/or château icon. I also try to make sure the route goes through as many small villages as possible. Usually putting all these things together I find interesting and scenic drives without even knowing where I am going and with no assistance from a guide book. Often these places are never mentioned in guidebooks and remain completely unknown to many tourists.

You can buy the Michelin maps from their website and here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:200,000 scale maps of France: http://tinyurl.com/4bt96ev

And here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:150,000 scale maps of France:
http://tinyurl.com/6mt4n64

You could also buy them here but then you can't do research beforehand. The maps can be bought in many places such as bookstores, news stands, magazine stores, larger supermarkets, department stores, hypermarkets and in the full service rest areas on the autoroutes, just to name a few.

And speaking of Michelin, you can go to the website viamichelin.com and get info on drive times and distances, toll and fuel costs and suggested routes (i.e. scenic routes). The drive times given do not consider stops (fuel, food, bathrooms) nor do they consider bad weather and traffic.

I know you are looking for specific info on what places to see and what not to miss but mine was sort of a general post to help you get started in looking for those things. I'm sure you'll get lots of specific advice from the many knowledgeable posters here on Fodors so I'll leave that for them.

Thank you FrenchMystiqueTours for your energy to get all that information for me. WOW...generous.
I shall certainly get the Michelin maps. On our last few trips my husband and I took only the small country roads and discovered some of our most memorable places and especially the continued friendships. Yeah for Skype!
I will look at all the links you offered and begin to narrow our trail.