best way to see France in 5 weeks
 

We are planning to go in May/June 2014. Besides Paris and Lyon, we would like some advice as to how best to use our time to see the rest of the country. We like small towns too and could always rent a car if necessary.

Get a couple of guidebooks. I like the green Michelin and the DK Eyewitness guides, but everyone has their own preference. Read the books and see what areas/cities interest you. Plan your trip based on the sites that you want to visit; once you have winnowed that down, give us that list so we can give you advice on which attractions could be organized to give you the best possible flow.

Are you flying in/out of Paris, or into Paris and out from another city? There are so many factors to consider before your even purchase your air tickets. From then, you can determine whether to use the train or rent a car, or use a combination of the two.

Start in Paris and visit the city. Leave Paris by car, do the tour that you choose (Loire valley, Burgundy, etc.?) End your tour in Lyon. See Lyon. You might be able to get a TGV that takes you back directly to CDG in time to catch your return flight.

The previous recommendation to look at guidebooks should be followed.

Thank you both for your advice. Will check out the books.
Another question:
We are flying from Canada to Dublin to play some golf, then to France for 5 weeks. Is there a place to leave our golf clubs either in Dublin or Paris?

FedEx them home.

If you plan to spend some time in the south of France (which would be lovely at that time of year), consider flying home from Nice or Marseille.

Howseofzee,

What did you decide?

In your meanderings, please may I recommend Brittany, and Gascony. With that and a bit of Provence en route to Lyons, you will get a flavour of the diversity which is France

I would fly to Paris and rent a car to tour Normandy for 6 days or so. Drive back toward Paris to Chartres, and then perhaps south to tour the Loire for a time.
Go to Paris for a week.
Go to Lyon by train.
Then go to Provence. You can get a tGV to CDG from Avignon. Divide the days as you wish. 5 weeks does get you a nice length of time in different areas.

A week in The Luberon would be lovely. There are many villages and sites to see and experience.

Thank you all for taking the time to answer my questions. We will plan along the lines suggested.

Take some time watching videos about France, read French travel guides and decide which two areas outside Paris and Lyon would interest you most and pick bases there. Your preferences might be very different from others. For example, we would pick the Loire Valley and Burgundy or Brittany over Provence and the Dordogne -- those two regions simply don't appeal to us. Others will have completely opposite opinions.

Small towns can be found in every region in France, so you'll have to think hard about what you most want to do and see.