I need some help putting together an itinerary for May. We want to fly into Paris, train or fly to Florence? or Pisa, pick up a car to drive via Cinque Terre to Cannes, staying with friends in Mougins, then back to Paris by train? or air? Where to stay along the way, what route would be best? We have 2+ weeks. Thanks!

Fly from Paris to Tuscany. Return your
Italian car rental in San Remo, and train across to Nice. Might be worth a three day rental again in France - - then fly or train (especially if you meander by car as far west as Montpellier or Avignon) back to Paris.

Best wishes,

Rex

Is it difficult to cross borders with the rental car? We would like to have a car while staying in Mougins, and might like to explore the countryside on our way there.

It's not difficult to cross borders, but it's usually prohibitively expensive to pick up your car in one country and return it in another. Rex is suggesting, I think, that you turn in your rental car in Italy and pick up another in France. We did this with AutoEurope on one of our trips, renting for a week in Germany and another in France. We stopped in Strasbourg to close out the Germany part of the rental and initiate the French part. It was a matter of paperwork--we kept the same car.

Not difficult to cross - - but it can be quite expensive to return a car in France if you picked it up in Italy.

What about sites to see, places to stop along the route? Any suggestions?
We like art, boutique hotels, history.