6 day roadtrip from Lyon to Paris - what should we do?

Via Michelin is a good road trip planner, but keep in mind that its time estimates don't include any stops and are optimistic about traffic.

Do you want to spend each night in a different place, or are you open to multi-night stays in one place, perhaps with day trips elsewhere and back? There's a lot to see and do in Lyon, do you really want to stay there just one night? Likewise Chamonix and surroundings?

From Chamonix to Amboise, a good base for the eastern Loire valley, would be a full day's drive. If you're going to do that, you should spend at least a couple of days exploring the area. From there to Disneyland would take about half a day, and I'd assume you'd want to spend a full day there -- yes?

So those drives and stays pretty much fill your time. Alternatively, you could work your way from Lyon (or Chamonix if you prefer) up through Burgundy, with stops in one or two towns like Beaune or Semour-en-Auxois. Fewer kilometers' driving, more time enjoying nature, good food, and cool towns and villages.

Through Burgundy seems like a good idea, pretty much a straight line. It's a beautiful area. Not all vineyards, lots of cows and horses and green rolling hills.

From Chamonix a stop in Annecy is nice. From there to Dijon or Beaune. Drive through Burgundy with a second stop at the north end (I really like Semur en Auxios), or visit Troyes for a look at Champagne.

I much prefer taking a train into Paris. Paris is well served by public transportation and the car becomes an expensive hassle. I trained from Paris to Auxerre to start my drive through Burgundy. If you decide to visit Champagne, you could go north to Reims, drop the car there and train to Paris.

I like Brad' s suggestions. I was going to suggest something similar, but then I saw the OP's mention of the Loire. But there's so much to see in a fairly straight run from Lyon to Paris (with a jog off the route to Chamonix/Annecy) that you wouldn't need to make a detour to the Loire. Semur-en-Auxois is a beautiful place to visit and/or stay, and there are lots of other villages in the area worth visiting. I'm attaching a link to my travel blog which covers our most recent visit to Semur; there are other entries for Noyers and other nearby villages. http://mainelywinenews.blogspot.com/2013/04/semur-en-auxois.html

While I can't speak to the driving part (we traveled by train), I can offer suggestions for your itinerary. Last summer my fiance and I traveled the reverse: we started in Paris (3 nights), spent 2 nights in Reims, 1 in Beaune, and 1 in Lyon (and continued on to Avignon, Nice, and Amsterdam after that!). I would highly recommend all of these stops for various reasons, but if your focus is nature, definitely add Beaune to your list. I am not sure that we found the exact spot our Rick Steves' guide directed us to, but words cannot do justice to the landscapes we witnessed on our walk!

We stayed in town and then walked to a park on the outskirts - perfect place for a picnic! It was absolutely beautiful and serene. If you go through a little gate at the back of the park, you stumble onto a view of vineyards that will take your breath away! We then returned to town to see the Hospices de Beaune, and do a wine tasting. (It was basically on the honor system, so naturally, we got drunk and purchased a case of wine, which I would do again in a heartbeat. Worth every penny and we enjoyed every drop!) Even better, food and accommodations in Beaune are so inexpensive, it's actually ridiculous. I think we had a 4-course meal, each course with 3 items, and wine, for about 40 euros total - for two people! Happy to provide more details on any of the above, if you'd like.

We stayed a night 25 years ago in Semur en Auxois on a similar trip and so loved the town that we later came back and spent a week in a cottage at the base of the medieval walls. It is a beautiful little town and for us was a good base for visiting many other towns and abbeys and such in the area. Here are a few of our stops on that trip.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/burgundy/
I would add it to the list and would also add Beune. We also really loved Vezelay, Auxerre etc and twice stayed at this place near Avalon -- it is an inn on a stream on the edge of the Morvan Forrest and not something you stumble on without knowing where it is; it has an excellent restaurant that draws people from the area. Very pleasant spot in easy drive of interesting towns.
https://www.moulindesruats.com/en/

thanks so much for everyones input