Driving from Geneva to Strasbourg or Paris...

Be sure to rent the car from the French side of the Geneva airport to avoid the large charge (usually around 500€) to rent a car in one country and drop it off in another. You can obtain approximate drive times and tolls at via.michelin.com but I think that it is about a 5.5 hour drive if you follow the fastest routing, but you must make sure that you have a vignette for tolls on Swiss highways if you plan to do that. I don't know why you would have to forego Annecy. It's less than an hour from Geneva and wouldn't really add much time to the drive to Strasbourg. Strasbourg to Paris is a 5 to 6 hour drive but I would not do it unless I planned to stop in someplace like Nancy or Troyes because the train does that trip in about 2 hours.

There is a new car share service in Geneva called catch a car, link at bottom. Consider using this when you need it instead of renting a car the entire time. They indicate that you can travel to France with the car, so no issue there. I would consider taking the TGV to Paris from Geneva rather than driving. You could use the car share in Paris called autolib.eu if you wanted to drive while you are there. Chamonix is a nice contrast to the city. I don't see any reason to sign up for a tour, whatever you need to know you can find out from the tourist office or online in advance.

https://www.catch-a-car.ch/en/cities/geneva/

https://autolib.eu/account/

Underlining what JHK said -- taking the train from Strasbourg to Paris is much preferable to driving. Takes much less time and you don't have the stress of driving into the city and finding the rental agency. ugh!

No drive!

For a quick overview of options, try rome2rio.com

It looks like (bahn.com) there are reasonable train journeys from Geneva to Strasbourg (it means 2 train changes but it's only 4.5 hours from the airport). I'd spend 3-4 days seeing Alsace villages with a car, then either drive to Versailles (5-6 hours per viamichelin.com) or train with a transfer in Paris (3 hours including changing stations). Or rent a car on the French side of Geneva, spend 3-4 days in Chamonix and Annecy, then drive (6 hours) or train (5 hours via Paris) from Annecy to Versailles.

As Rick Steves readers, we did have to visit Chamonix before visiting my cousin in Geneva. Note that there is more to Alsace than just Strasbourg. Another Rick Steves destination area could be Besancon, and/or Perouges. You have a lot of France to see, since you have "checked off" Paris. (For myself, I've been to Paris at least 7 times, and it never gets old.)

Make sure your French car has a Swiss toll vignette. I found the drive from Perouges to Geneva longer and more difficult than expected, even with modern superhighways and tunnels. Always tell the rental agent all countries you will be going into. Geneva is a perfectly nice city, but I wouldn't call it stunningly beautiful.

Thanks to everyone who has shared so far. Yes, I realize there is more to Alsace than Strasbourg. In college I spent spring and summer terms in Besançon and Strasbourg and would like to visit the region again. That is the reason we will drive from Geneva. I don't plan to drive in Switzerland but to get the car after our Geneva visit (2 - 3 days max) and then visit Annecy perhaps Besançon and the wine region leading into Strasbourg. Any suggestions for places to stay/visit would be most welcome. I planned on driving this in 2 - 3 days since the total driving time seems to be about 6 - 7 hours, and this would allow us a chance to stop in some towns along the way.

I am almost convinced to take the train from Strasbourg to Paris. My problem will be the luggage. We will be gone a total of 4 weeks, and although I am very good at packing light, my husband is not so good!! He also has a back problem meaning I get to do most of the heavy lifting...

Thanks to everyone who has shared so far. Yes, I realize there is more to Alsace than Strasbourg. In college I spent spring and summer terms in Besançon and Strasbourg and would like to visit the region again. That is the reason we will drive from Geneva. I don't plan to drive in Switzerland but to get the car after our Geneva visit (2 - 3 days max) and then visit Annecy perhaps Besançon and the wine region leading into Strasbourg. Any suggestions for places to stay/visit would be most welcome. I planned on driving this in 2 - 3 days since the total driving time seems to be about 6 - 7 hours, and this would allow us a chance to stop in some towns along the way.

I am almost convinced to take the train from Strasbourg to Paris. My problem will be the luggage. We will be gone a total of 4 weeks, and although I am very good at packing light, my husband is not so good!! He also has a back problem meaning I get to do most of the heavy lifting...

I have been to Paris several times and would be most willing to spend weeks if not months and years there, but we have a limited amount of time and want to see as many different sights as possible!

There must be something about my husband and it could be that he is very tall and looks very strong but on every trip that we go on by train, someone has asked him to help with their luggage and he always says yes. It would never occur to him to say no and sometimes he offers without having been asked if he sees someone struggling. Maybe, he has even helped MrsEB. You may end up with luggage than you imagine for a 4-week trip. We have less luggage when we go on those than we do for a 10-day trip because for a shorter trip, we bring enough clothes for the entire trip but for a 4-week trip, we plan for laundry and bring about 5 or 6 days worth of clothes.