sg123

We are trying to put together a last minute plan for about 1 week in the South of France (we've only been to Paris before) in mid August. Some details:

-2 little children with us. We don't have to do any kid-centric activities
-Not much interest in beach time
-We can to fly into Toulouse/Bordeaux/Lyon/elsewhere and can fly out of Paris/Geneva if needed
-Taking the TGV would be fun, but willing to rent a car as well, would like to keep longest drive to a maximum of 2 hours
-Interested in countryside, relaxation and outdoor activities, local food (casual not fancy), food markets, wine, some culture/history, but no interest in beaches and crowded cities/towns
-Would like to stay in a small village/farm/countryside type setting, but would like to have food and restaurants within walking or quick driving distance
-We don't have any boxes we need to check and would like to keep it low key and relaxed

I'd appreciate some pointing in the right direction. Places to visit, airports and where to base ourselves.

bilboburgler

August is high season and you are looking for bookings in July,

It may be down to availability...

Take a TGV from Paris and hire locally, good plan.

Loads of wine around

Have a look at gite-de-france for some ideas
or http://www.cheznous.com/

The area I like is along the Canal du Midi. So somewhere near

Beziers, Carcassonne, Narbonne
It will be hot, there may not be aircon.
I also like Cahors, Bergerac

So do a bit of a dig and look for a nice town/village.

Whathello

Yes, I'd recommend Dordogne too. Or Britanny (northern coast is not so overcrowded).

We spent 2 weeks in a friends' house close to Bergerac and it was gorgeous. We rented a gîte another time - do take a swimming pool. August is hellish, 'big' towns or small cities are overcrowded (like Sarlat...).

Indeed don't lose time to rent. Booking.com, gites de france (stay in French, they filter rentals by language - if the owner didn't write in english you will not see it if you select english language).

StCirq

The "south of France" is enormous. Any specific part of it that you're interested in?

Everything you're looking for is what thousands of others are looking for, and most of them have made their arrangements last year. You are incredibly late to be trying to rent a place anywhere in the south of France for this summer. Take what you can get. There likely won't be AC anywhere, if that bothers you, unless you hole up in pricey hotels.

The Dordogne is a beautiful place in summer, especially with kids. We have had blue skies and temps in the 20s here for the past week, but the place is teeming with tourists, as will every place in the South of France be for the next two months.

At this late date, I would try to settle for a place in areas not so many people are interested in, like le Lot or Auvergne or Corrèze or somewhere deep in the Languedoc-Roussillon.

nytraveler

I think you need to be realistic about a couple of things:

If you don;t give the kids plenty of time to do kid things - esp in this hot weather - you will have 2 really grumps kids. Just trailing around while you do adult markets and wine tastings will NOT be a hit.

I think being in the deep countryside and having dining choices within short walking distances is not realistic. It can be one of the other - but for dining choices you will need to be in some sort of town.

sg123

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I'm well aware we are bit late with planning, but that won't deter us from having a good time. It seems like my best option is to fly into and out of Toulouse based on the places suggested? Or Perhaps Bordeaux? I do see some availability on the websites suggested as well. We are happy to pay 200/night for something relaxing and nice.
nytraveler - I appreciate that adult markets and wine tastings all day will be a terrible idea for kids! As mentioned, we are open to anything really, as long as it's relaxing and we enjoy a rural countryside holiday with a few activities and food and wine available easily without traveling too far from where we stay.
I will take a look at the Dordogne, Le Lot, Languedoc-Roussillon.
We prefer to have a pool and AC.

grandmere

Another recommendation for Languedoc-Roussillon; have vacationed there 3 times, last time being with the whole family including 4 grandchildren aged 4-11. That time we stayed in a tiny village, Aspères, not far from Sommières. No commerce in Aspères so had to get in car for everything, but the whole area is great: rural, few tourists (we were there in June, '14), etc.