Dear fodorites, we (I and my wife) are trying to plan 5 days in June - July in the French countryside starting and returning to Paris. So, I thought to rent a car and drive within 2 - 3 hours a day, settle in a B&B and explore surroundings a bit. But I don't really know much about it, I'd appreciate very much any ideas of the route, where to go and what to see. We don't speak French, don't know if it is an issue.

Thanks in advance.

Belgium is less than 300km away.

Within 300 kms of Paris narrows it down to about a thousand places. Time to start reading the guidebooks and trawling the internet to narrow this down at least a bit. And there's no reason to drive in and out of Paris. The train system is extensive, allowing you to pick up and drop off your car at or near your destination (not that driving iin and out of Paris is that bad, but it seems a lot of people are wary of it). Lastly, you are late in terms of securing accommodations, so you'd best get on this asap.

If it were me I would pick one region, settle in for the week and explore. There are lots of options:

Normandy
Loire
Burgundy
Provence (train to Avignon and pick up the car there)
Alsace
Champagne

Happy planning!

You can go in each direction:

- To the south to Bourgogne - Auxerre, Beaune, Dijon.
- To the southwest to Loire - beautiful castles.
- To the northwest through the Seine-Valley to Normandy - Rouen, Honfleur, beaches, Mont St. Michel.
- To the north to the chalk cliff coast - Etretat, Fecamps.
- to the north to the Picardie - Amiens.
- To the east to the Champagne.
- Or you explore the Île de France around Paris with splendid castles like Chantilly in the north and Fontainebleau in the south.

For many destinations (Bourgogne, Loir, Champagne..) it makes sense to take a train out of Paris and rent a car at the train station. So, you avoid the hassle of maneuvering out of a congested city.

As suggested choose an AREA and go there, either by car (Loire, Normandy) or by train (Provence, etc.) and rent a car.
Starting from Paris may or may not be the best idea with logistics of renting a car and leaving from Paris.
You can either rent a car at CDG upon arrival and drive to your out of Paris experience---OR take the TGV to it.
Then return to Paris and conclude your trip. It is easy to get to CDG for departure by taxi.