Driving in France

Welcome to the travel forum.
We could give you a better answer if you could describe where, from Paris, you want to go. Or at least what you're interested in seeing.

As Kent says, it'd be great to know what areas you are thinking of. France is huge. One thing to keep in mind is that it can be risky to drive after a long flight, and many (myself) prefer to not drive in a very large city like Paris. Typically we have taken a train to our first stop, and then picked up a car. Cities where we've rented a car have been Strasbourg, Colmar, Chartres, Tours and Vernon (Giverny). People on the forum, have also trained to Caen and then picked up a car there for touring Normandy.

I used to rent cars and cover as many miles as possible in 2 weeks. $9 gasoline got my attention, and we now travel better--slower. We now prefer to stay a minimum of 3 days in one place and move on down the line for another 3 days--doing day trips to local tourist sights.
You really need to get a bucket list on what you'd like to see.
We prefer to travel in a straight line to cities that compliment each other and that are not too far apart. Like Rome-Florence-Venice. Or London-Paris. Or Munich-Salzburg-Vienna. Or, Budapest-Bratislava-Vienna. Travel is more efficient that way.
Another tip for car travelers is to fly open jaw--into one city and out of another. But turn the car back in to a rental company in the same country to avoid hefty drop off fees.

On our first trip to France we started in Paris, followed by Burgundy( Beaune, Auxerre, Chablis) Provence( Avignon, Gordes, Les Baux) and the Cote d'Azur(Nice). Trip was for a month but you could spend less time in each area.
On subsequent trips we have gone to:
Paris, to Alsace( high speed train to Strasbourg, then rented car a for a few days, stayed in a wine village, Riquewehr),then to Lorraine to visit Nancy which my father helped to liberate in WWII, Champagne, Rennes, Epernay and Ay, to CDG to fly home...
Paris, Normandy( Bayeux, WII beaches, Bayeux tapestry), Burgundy( Beaune, Dijon)
Paris, then to Nice for two weeks.
Pick and choose among them or any other areas you want. Easy to do this way. Do not go to too many places with only 12 days! Enjoy each area.
We always rent our cars in Europe through AutoEurope in Portland, ME.

We will be spending a few days in Paris going to the French Open and definitely do not plan on driving in Paris. I am trying to determine what route to take in order to be able to view the countryside. And yes, we plan to take the train to a city and will rent a car there,

Thank you all for the great information.

I know it seems we are unsure of what areas to travel. We are trying to avoid colder areas as the last two times we have been in France various it has rained a lot.

The French Open is later this month, right? You could expect pretty good weather anywhere in France, but for warmer weather head south. You could take a high-speed train from Paris to Lyon or one of the cities in Provence or the Riviera, and rent the car there. Or a train to Dijon to explore Burgundy by car. Or to Tours for the Loire, Bordeaux for the Dordogne, Toulouse for southwestern France. With 12 days you could explore a couple of regions.

This website's "Explore Europe" pages can help you decide what "countryside" you want to visit. France is the size of Texas. As David said, it's possible to cover a lot of ground, especially on the expensive autoroutes, but it may be more rewarding to focus on one or two areas and take day trips from a base city or town.

Does the 12 days include your time in Paris? If so, I’d suggest picking two regions and stay in the same lodgings in each area. Also, look at your travel dates. If they are around D-Day, Normandy will be crowded.

Last week we spent a wonderful week in Loches. We rented a charming little apartment next to the city center. We mostly ate at home, especially on market days (Wednesday and Saturday). We saw a few Châteaux, but mostly rambled around Loches and neighboring villages. It was laid back and slow paced. It was heavenly.

The weather in the Loire Valley was nice, with maybe a shower or two most days. It didn’t slow us down.

Have a great trip!

BTW, we returned our rental car at Gare du Nord. Not for the faint of heart!

You can get some ideas by region at https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france. Of course, I recommend Rick's France book to fill in more detail. If you wanted to head all the way south for warmer weather, then it's faster to take a fast TGV train at least one way than to drive on the (fairly boring) autoroute.

Put together two itineraries for changing plans in case the weather is not so cooperative. Visiting Normandy, a bit of Brittany and the Loire Region is well doable in 12 days. Temperatures of about 20°C are perfect for driving around there and enjoying outdoor activities. In case it’s too rainy or cold you can heading south to Burgundy or even further to the Côte d’Azur for more pleasant weather. As you leave Paris just after the French Open it’s still low season so booking a place just a few days ahead will not be a problem. You can make a list of possible bases to stay for both itineraries at home, once in Paris or on the move you can decide the direction you want to go.