How is this itinerary for Provence?
 

5/16 - LA to Paris
5/17 - Paris to Avignon (TGV Train)
5/18 - Avignon
5/19 - Gordes
5/20 - Gordes
5/21 - St. Remy
5/22 - St. Remy
5/23 - ?
5/24 - ?
5/25 - Back to Paris for 7 days.

Should we go to Aix and visit Marseilles to get the train back to Paris? Drive to Grasse and St. Paul de Vence? I'm concerned about returning the car and getting the train back to Paris. Is this too ambitious to try to get to Grasse

Is this your first trip to Provence? If it is, then I don't think it's an issue of being to ambitious, but I think you're missing out on a lot more things to do in the area you'll be in, and there's little need to drive all the way over to the Cote d'Azur.

You could explore Avignon on 5/18 and then add an extra day to your Avignon hotel reservation to visit the Pont du Gard (about 45 minutes away), or the Roman ruins in Orange (20 minutes away), and spend an afternoon wine-tasting in Chateauneuf-du-pape (15 minutes away). Those are all very enjoyable visits. Nimes is anothrt 40 minutes from the Pont du Gard, and you can watch a bullfight in a Roman ampitheatre.

So, maybe spend 5/18 and 5/19 in Avignon, 5/20 and 5/21 in Gordes, 5/22 and 5/23 in St. Remy, and then 5/24 in Aix before going to Paris. Marseille isn't that nice.

I would say you need less time for St Remy. Add on Orange, Aix-en-Provence (absolutely) and what about Arles? I would agree that yuo are missing some of the key places. I personally wouldnt go to the Cote D'Azur, because although it is May and probably less crowded, it tends to be too much and tooooo far with lots of traffic.
I would also forgo Marseilles. Its fine but there are more exciting places to see in the region.
You should look into easyjet flights from Nice to Paris. That would save travel time and give you an excuse to get down to the Cote D'Azur

Gordes is very small (and cute!), but doesn't require two days.

There is a very cute town called Uze beyond Pont du Gard that would be great for lunch or dinner. They have a really cool tower to climb. I made my husband do it with a broken foot!

Arles is cute. Nimes has great Roman ruins. And what is the Isle town with all the antiques? That was cute too.

I would add a day each to Gordes & St Remy. You can visit the Pont du Gard & Uzes easily from St Remy. I assume these towns you listed are just where you're planning to sleep at night, and the days will be filled with exploring various sites close to these towns.
Like others mentioned, skip the Cote d'Azur for this trip.

On 5/25, head over to Aix & enjoy this interesting town. Have lunch on the Cours Mirabeau. After lunch, drive out to the Aix TGV station and hop on either the 3:44 or the 4:44 TGV back to Paris - it's only a 3 hour trip.

I'm not a big fan of Grasse. I've stated this for many years. We went there last June, & I still feel it's not that interesting compared to other places in the south of France.

Stu Dudley

Is it possible, with your plane tickets, to include LA to Paris to Marseille?

The train is nice, but, possibly more expensive and time consuming. If you're picking up a car, it would seem to me that MRS is an easier place.

I agree with Stu D. Although in some cultures, you can't get too much grass(e). I'm only going to Grasse because my wife is into parfums. St. Paul de Vence is not that far from there.

Have you thought about having just one base city and then touring from there? I'm not a fan of packing/unpacking, checking in/out of hotels and all of the bother that goes along with it.

A couple of years ago I rented a house in Goult in the Luberon area of Provence and did daytrips to Gordes, St Remy, Aix, Rouissilon (sp?) and some other towns. It was a great way to explore the region and never felt like we were pushing too hard. Started in Paris for a few days and also took the train to Avignon.

I did St Paul de Vence on another trip when we were based in Tourrettes sur Loup which is near Vence---I wouldn't do that area from where you seem to be heading.

Thank you all for additional information. I will add Aix-en-Provence to the itinerary, making sure to do lunch on the Cours Mirabeau. We will make sure to visit Nimes, Uze, and Orange, perhaps even the wine tasting. My daughter and I will look forward to exploring as much of the area as possible.

Since everyone seems to be so helpful, any recommendations for a hotel in Aix?

In my humble opinion I would stay in St. Remy and use that as a base. If not, I would divide it into 2 overnight stays and avoid the effort in both time and energy in moving so often. Your whole itinery would work well in day trips.

I agree with Bigal about staying near St. Remy or even Avignon.

Even though others have recommended skipping Marseille- if you want to see the 'coast' I suggest a day trip to Cassis and taking a boat trip of the Calanques. My husband and I did this last year and loved it. It's just a little bit past Marseille (which we didn't stop to visit) and driving from our B&B near Carpentras was took us one hour 45 minutes. We did get lost a few times getting there, so others may be able to make the drive in a shorter time. To make the most of our day, we stopped in Aix for dinner on the way 'home'. Didn't fall in love with Aix, but maybe it's because we were there for such a short time.

Paris to Avignon on the TGV is about 2.5 hours. There are lots of car rental places at the Avignon TGV station. Aix to Paris by TGV is 3 hours. Check now to get cheap PREM fares on the TGV's.

I think the TGV preferable to flying. And maybe faster if you add in the time to get to the airport, the 2 hours or so early you have to be there, the time to get to your destination from the airport....