6 day trip to Paris and Dordogne Region Questions

Karen - The drive from Paris to Sarlat is around 6 hours and you are leaving in the afternoon at 4pm , which means you won't arrive at your destination until 10pm. You sure you want to do that? Since you have limited time, have you consider taking a short flight to Bordeaux France from Paris, and rent a car from Bordeaux airport to drive to Sarlat. Use Ryanair to book flight Paris to Bordeaux.

https://www.edreams.net/flights/airline/FR/ryanair/?mktportal=google&utm_campaign=228819528&utm_content=kwd-48193010&utm_term=ryanair&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItIyKh_C15wIVyZ-zCh0ptQ_9EAAYAiAAEgK8VPD_BwE

While based in Sarlat, you can explore the nearby Dordogne Villages using your rental car. Although you can drive in France with a valid U.S driver's license, it is highly recommended to obtain a international driving permit. The link below has more info about that.

https://www.e-ita.org/IDP/US?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh_qmk--15wIVGaSzCh32awrTEAAYASAAEgKcm_D_BwE

https://www.autoeurope.com/international-driving-permit-france/

Your intuition is accurate. The Dordogne is way too much for your available time from Paris.
I spent 4 nights in Dordogne not rushed, with a car, and in summer for best weather.
Driving is not easy in France espec leaving Paris and your first time. Besides Paris is wonderful and is to be savoured. The sights are blockbusters. See and enjoy it. Have you also factored in, jet lag?

JS - That's why i advised her to fly to Bordeaux from Paris since she is pressed for time. She will lose valuable time driving from Paris to Bordeaux.

I agree that this is too much. I did not find driving in France hard, but everything takes more time than you think it will (even picking up the rental car can take 2 hours in Paris, from getting to the facility to getting the car to getting out of the city). You are short-changing both Paris and the Dordogne. Even if you flew to Bordeaux. You could instead spend 2 nights in Normandy or the Loire Valley, both accessible by train with rental car places right at the train station. Then head back to Paris for the flight to Athens (Normandy could include the American cemetery, which even for this non WWII history person was very moving, the Bayeux tapestry - very interesting - and Mont St Michel. Loire has Amboise and Da Vinci's house and all the Chateaux. We visited Chenonceau and Chambord in our two days, for contrast Lovely countryside, and there was a small farmer's market in front of Chambord where we got some strawberries my family still swoons over).

You have scheduled two 6-hour evening/night driving trips, which suggests you're a pretty confident driver. The nominal 6 hour length may turn out to be longer when you include pit stops along the way. Of course that's do-able, but you will undoubtedly get responses here from folks who find it overwhelming or a waste of time. Your trip, your decision.
Warnings will include people for whom driving in Paris is unthinkable. We have driven into or out of Paris on every one of our 6 trips and I don't find it daunting. It will probably be to your advantage if you've done a bit of big-city driving in your life. Take your time. If you take a wrong turn or miss a turn, pull over and correct course. You haven't committed a life-threatening blunder, you're just in a different part of Paris than you'd intended.
And, by the way, unless things have changed drastically in the past 3 years, you can find street parking in Paris. We've always been able to park near where we stay by looking patiently (learned in New York City, applied in Paris).
Read up about French laws, signs and traffic circles. And an International Driver's License is inexpensive, probably won't be needed but still good to have.
You don't specify days of the week. Does your Market Day refer to Sarlat's bigger market Day (Saturday)? It's well worth it from my perspective. I've heard complaints that it's too crowded, but a sparsely attended Market would seem odd. We didn't find the crowds to be a problem, just part of the atmosphere (everybody else likes Market Day, too). In addition to the stalls selling everything, there will be street performances as well, especially in the evening. They are very entertaining.
This trip can appear exhausting, with the fast pace and the two long drives. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it if it suits you. One of our top priories in London was to go to Harrod's. Not everyone's cuppa, but that 's what we wanted to do. Another time, our B&B host criticized us for only spending part of one day at Carnac. It worked fine for us. Your trip, your choices.
Of course, you should listen to the advice you've solicited here. But do it your way.

I see no advantage to flying to Bordeaux. That still leaves you with at least a 2 hr. 40 min. drive to Sarlat (per ViaMichelin.com, which is said to be somewhat optimistic). By the time you add in travel time to whichever Paris airport you use, security time at the airport, the flight, and the time at Bordeaux airport, it can't possibly be less than 6 hours.

Edited to add: The Dordogne/Lot area is wonderful. There's a great deal to do, and there are many picturesques towns and villages. The market in Sarlat even on Wednesday is very worthwhile, but it is just one of many great experiences in the area. I would definitely hold off on Sarlat this time around, because the ratio of travel time to sightseeing time is going to be way too high. There will be plenty to keep you occupied in Paris. If you are certain you will want some variety of surroundings and somehow Normandy doesn't sound appealing, you could consider Alsace. There's rapid TGV service to Strasbourg (just under 2 hours), and the smaller Colmar is about 3 hours from Paris.

Note that both Normandy and Alsace are better if you have more time. There are lots of great day-trips possible from Paris; one of those might be a better option, if only because many involve local trains (TERs) for which you don't pay a higher fare if you buy the ticket at the last minute. That means you could make a spur-of-the-moment decision, depending on the weather and what remains on your To-Do list for Paris.

If you are set on Dordogne:

Don't fly to Bordeaux, you will not save any time - also, Ryanair doesn't fly that route, and doesn't really serve Paris to start with (but nearby Beauvais, which is really not Paris) . Take the train instead, it's much faster! 2 hours. Then rent a car.
It will save a lot of exhaustion.
On the way back, you could drive back to Paris, especially if you leave from Orly Airport the next day. It will avoid the stress of timing the drive to catch the train in Bordeaux.

But do consider the Alsace alternative mentioned above.

You'll have a better trip if you save the Dordogne for another time.

Thank you all for your thoughtful posts. You are confirming what I feared, that it is just too much to do both Dordogne and Paris in 6 days. I do think the amount of time spent getting from one place to another will really impact the trip. Thank you for the suggestion of combining Paris with Alsace. I have not been to this town, while I have spend quite a bit of time and Normandy and also visited Louire Valley. Maybe this will cure my desire to try something new, but not burden our trip with too much travel.

Dordogne will be put on the bucket list for a different trip. Also, a bit later in the season so we can really enjoy the canoe ride without fear of rain!