2 week July Paris/Burgundy/Provence

Have you already purchased your flights? You are going to be returning to Paris right at the Olympics. From Provence, you could stay south and fly home from Nice. You will be in Provence right at the peak of lavender - can’t miss that! I would leave Geneva for another trip, there are prettier places in Switzerland. Stay in Annecy an extra day and do a day trip to Chamonix. We are doing almost the same dates as you are, but are leaving Paris for another trip because of the Olympics. We are flying into Nice, leaving our car in Annecy, and flying home from Geneva - both nonstop flights through JFK. I would try to minimize 1 night stops.

Thanks, Faye! I might consider that, but I already purchased tix - got a good deal carry on only and 5 tickets open jaw got from IAD got real pricey real fast. May skip Geneva since I've been there years ago on business and wife and I have been all over Switzerland. It's like 20min out of the way when driving to Annecy, though. We had originally planned on doing Chamonix for a few days but I've got a couple with real fear of heights and limiting us to the valley floor would, knock Chx down a few pegs on its value.

I would consider skipping Annecy for just a 1-night stay.
Instead I would head straight to St Rémy and stay 2 nights in Lyon afterwards.
Or I would skip Lyon and spend 2 nights in Annecy.

And I would skip Geneva. The side trip would waste more than 20 minutes because you would not be able to use the Swiss motorway, which requires a 49 CHF sticker; You would have to enter Switzerland through Annemasse / Thonex instead.

Why don’t you drop your car off at Avignon and catch TGV high speed train to Paris?

Thanks. Is Lyon not worth it? I keep seeing how it's the culinary capital of France, but for the life of me can't see more than a day there, particularly eating quenelle in the July sun. Maybe add a day in Annecy and skip Lyon all together? I don't mind springing for the Swiss vignette for a day - seems like you can do it electronically and link it to the car license plate.

As an aside - is A/C needed in Annecy? We're from the southeastern US, so are accustomed to heat and humidity during the day but I enjoy sleeping in a cool, dry room.

There is more to Lyon than the food - which I personally dislike, as it is very meat-based (except quenelles). There are several neighborhoods to explore, some good museums, Roman remains too: definitely a 2-3 night place.

So, given your priorities, I would choose Annecy, and spend a second night there.
You can go to Geneva if you must, but there are prettier places to explore around Annecy, in my opinion: the shores of lake Annecy, the Aravis foothills (a short hike up Plateau de Beauregard from Col de la Croix Fry or by gondola from La Clusaz gives some very good views, including Mont Blanc, for example), the village of Yvoire on Lake Geneva...

As for A/C in Annecy: it is certainly very nice to have, especially in a hotel room that might get stuffy (no cross-breeze).