Car Rental for 23 days

It would seem that renting (and returning) at Charles de Gaulle airport would make the most sense. But I have never done this, so am not sure if there is any downside (although often renting at airports is more expensive than a city location.) Peter

We were very pleased with a Renault Eurodrive Lease (Renault EuroDrive Homepage). We picked our new Renault Megan in Nice and dropped it off 23 days and 2250 km later just outside Strasbourg. It cost around $1400 in April 2016.

We highly recommend EuroDrive and will use them again when we return to France.

Do you need an automatic?

I also suggest you check into leasing since you will be in France more than 17 days. I leased through the Peugeot program, which is similar to the Renault program. The big advantage is that you get the car you want rather that what happens to be on the lot when you show up. You pick out the car from their website, which has full specifications for each car - this is helpful if you absolutely need an automatic or trunk big enough to handle a walker as I did. It also can be cost effective and includes all the insurance. The car is registered in your name and the pick up and drop off process is easy and very similar to renting. You just sign a document at the end that transfers the car back to the lessor. It is a lease/buyback back.

If your 1st stop is Beaune,take the train from CDG to Beaune and pick up the car there and you can enjoy the scenery along the way and return the car to CDG.
Mike

I'm not sure about leasing a car. If like in the US, when turning one in you encounter many extra charges. We have no preference when it comes to manual or automatic.

We followed a similar itinerary 2 years ago and were in France a month. Having the car (with GPS) in Paris ( 7 nights) was a delight. If you are comfortable driving in large cities then Paris is no different. It was cheaper to book by the month so I planned to just park the car and not drive it in Paris but exploring the city was half the fun in the car. We set the GPS with our apartment as the base and just wandered around. Driving the traffic circle around the Arch is something I have always wanted to do. On Sat and Sun mornings I got up very early and drove around with no traffic at all. The cost to park it (about 20 euro a day) was offset by the weekly rental savings. We rented and returned at CDG using some Hertz discounts. And yes, do get the automatic. Just a thought.

Check out leasing and compare the price to renting. If leasing is the same or less, take it (also take into consideration that leasing includes full insurance). And based on my experience in France, there are no hidden costs. And the fact that you're willing to take a manual would make it easier to rent in a smaller city, such as Beaune. And under no circumstances should you rent the car until you're ready to leave Paris.

Echoing some of the above:
1. As novice drivers in France, we had no problems picking up and returning our 3 week rental at CDG (confirm that your GPS is in English or language of choice before leaving the rental agency; and get good instructions on how to find the return location at CDG.)
2. We didn't try to drive IN Paris, but found Metro, walking and an occasional taxi to be easy.
3. AutoEurope worked fine, and we did some comparison shopping to confirm before booking. I suspect there are savings in picking up/returning the rental at the same location, but you can check that when preparing to book.
4. We used a RS recommended Michelin map in conjunction with GPS for navigation -- mostly to get a general orientation/preview of the next day's drive.
5. There is no shame in making multiple trips around a traffic circle until you are certain of the correct exit spoke.