Have you considered Alsace? You could stay in Strasbourg or Colmar (both with good TGV access from Paris) which are very interesting & lovely cities/towns. There are probably lots of buses to take you up & down the Route du Vin to visit the cute wine villages. Alsace is relatively flat, so a bicycle would be a great mode of transportation also. From either Colmar or Strasbourg, you could take a train to Nancy for a day-trip or visit it on the way from Paris to Alsace.

I would certainly choose Alsace over the Bordeaux region.

A good itinerary would be to land at CDG and immediatly take the TGV from CDG to Rennes to visit Brittany (I prefer northern Brittany around Dinan). There is a 10:30 & a 1:15 TGV. Rennes is one of my top 5 cities (after Paris) in France, so spend at least 1 night there. Return to Paris from Rennes (or elsewhere - lots of TGV options in Brittany) and spend several days in Paris.

Then take the TGV to Strasbourg & visit Alsace - basing in Strasbourg or Colmar. Colmar is one of my top 3 small cities in France (others are Beaune & Sarlat).

From Strasbourg or Colmar, take the train to Bescancon for a night & visit this interesting city. Don't miss the Vauban fortress. Then hop on the train and via Dijon or Lyon, get to Nice to visit the Cote d'Azur. Consider a stop in Annecy after Alsace & before the Cote.

I like the diversity of this itinerary
- Brittany & the rugged coast & half-timbered houses & castles.
- Alsace & the cute wine villages & vineyards,
- Annecy & the lake & Alps,
- then the Cote & sun & cute backcountry perched villages & a different section of the Alps.

Return home from Nice.

Stu Dudley

Hi Stu,

Many of the places you've mentioned, I've already been to--including Paris, where I've been many times (which is why I've allowed only 3 days there.)

For Brittany, I've been thinking of 4 days in Dinan and 4 days in Quimper.

As to Bordeaux, I'm flexible--so I'm going to look into your Alcase and Annecy options tonight. Thanks for the heads up....

Tania,
The Dordogne is beautiful, but all the other posters are correct.It is a NO No without a car.You would be miserable.
Don't discount Dijon. It is a wonderful city with train and bus links to all of the wine country.We just came back from 10 heavenly days there and can't wait to return.Check my post on the city and the apartment rental www.myhomeindijon.com.

You didn't mention Alsace, Brittany, Annecy, or the Cote on prior trips.....only Paris & that you planned to return on this upcoming trip.

I only mentioned Dijon & Lyon because you would probably need to pass/connect through the train stations there to get from Alsace or Annecy to the Cote - I didn't recommend stopping there for a visit because you indicated that you've already visited Burgundy.

In Brittany, we spent 2 weeks near Dinan, 1 week near Pont Aven (close to Quimper), and 2 weeks near Treguier & the "pink rock" area. We thought the northern coast (Dinan & Treguier) and the countryside around there was much prettier than the southern coast & countryside - especially the countryside comparison. So I would recommend more time around Dinan & a little less around Quimper. My 2 favorite cities were Rennes & Vannes.

Stu Dudley

Following up on Stu's kind advice, I stayed several years ago in a wonderful place in Vannes...just loved every aspect...
www.villakerasy.com