Hi from Wisconsin,
I would pick a place to stay in each area. It eliminates packing and unpacking. And by golly you learn where the bathroom is by the third night. Which is worth something.
I would shop on Gites de France for a cottage in each area. Generally, they expect to rent Saturday to Saturday. But the prices are so good, arranging to stay 5 nights and pay for 7 is a good idea. You might be very surprised at the price and accommodations you can find. The web site is a bit clunky. Once you open it, in the upper right hand of the page are lines. Click on those and select English, that will help a bit. Type in Dordogne or Bordeaux (better Bayonne of Pau). look at your options, there maybe dozens. As I say, a bit clunky, but these places are quite nice. And you can get an entire house/cottage. I never rent unless the bathroom has a nice shower, there is wifi, and a clothes washing machine (oh, my wife drops food on her clothes, it is a life saver).
When looking for a place in the Dordogne area don't overlook the Lott and Cele Rivers as a possible place to sit down. The area north Cabrerets is lovely and tourists are scarce. Cabrerets has a great cave. This is in a Parc Natural. Plus Cahors is nearby with its famous bridge. We prefer rural setting to set up shop, but that is us.
South of Bordeaux is a large flat plain, but south of that is Basque territory. And the food is great. The cities beautiful. To the east of Bayonne is the Salie-de-Bearn area there and south of it is just gorgeous. Don't get me wrong Bordeaux was a really nice place to spend a few days. If you haven't been to Paris, then this is maybe where you should go. But five days is too much.
If you haven't purchased air tickets think about arranging it so you can rent a gite or two. Or so the time to change from location #1 to location #2 is on a Saturday.
wayne iNWI
