First time Paris and France - Ideas?

First few weeks of October.

You mean in a couple of weeks? Oh my...while I am a big believer and practitioner of spontaneous travel, you are late to the planning of this trip. For a trip of this scope, you should have nailed down an itinerary and made reservations months ago.

October is a very busy month in France for tourism. Very. Have you purchase airfare already, with dates set?

Your timeframe coincides with Fashion Week in Paris and the end of the season in Normandy. As listed above you're way behind the curve in planning this. I like to stay in the 1st and have an easy walk to the Louvre and the gardens. My preferred hotel is sold out. And you probably should take a train to Normandy, but you should have bought tickets 60 days prior. River cruises normally stop in OCT, so you'll have to look quick for those. Wineries are not near Paris, and Normandy is cider, not wine.

Do you have tickets for the Louvre or anyplace else? Have you made dinner reservations?

Are you talking next month, or October 2026?

We have stayed in the 7th arrondissement, and have found that location good for exploring the city. The RER was easy to navigate on days we chose to use it. On the day that you visit Versailles, I would urge you to arrive there when they open in order to mitigate the crowds as much as possible. It can be a madhouse inside the palace with the hordes of tourists.

I highly recommend visiting Normandy, since you enjoy history. On both of our visits there, we took the direct train from Paris to Caen, where we rented a car. Be aware that the many car rental agencies are closed on Sunday, and check the hours they are closed for lunch on M-Sat. We stayed in Bayeux during our visit to the Normandy area. I booked a half-day private tour of Normandy that began when we arrived in Caen. That provided us with a good overall view of the area, enabling us to spend the rest of our time exploring on our own.

Mike, I'm so happy for you and your wife! Congratulations on your honeymoon.
As many have already said, if your trip is this October, you'll need to move quickly. I did check the second week of October for Hotel Caron de Beaumarche (a 20-minute walk from Le Louvre) which is in the 4th and a very desirable area. We are staying there for the first time in just a few days, so I can't comment on it, but many here give it high praise as do other sights. The cost per night is @ $280.00. The 4th, 5th and 6th arrondissements are favored because they are lovely and close to so many frequented sights. I also checked Le Louvre for October 1st and it has many available slots and is also open in the evening.

Please do not underestimate the difficulty of finding accommodations in Paris during September/October. If this is for this year, I would find a place to stay immediately.

It is late in the season for barge cruises in the Nivernais. Maybe operators still have trip options.

For a Bordeaux cruise, these typically book months in advance. If you are serious, I would reserve quickly.

Congratulations, Mike,
Back in 1974 we had our honeymoon 3 years after the wedding and spent that date on a lovely beach side dinner at an upscale restaurant in Marseille. I understand about the delayed celebration.

Glad you plan on a full week in Paris. There is plenty to keep you busy and satisfied there. The others are correct in nailing down lodgings. How about spending the second week in Paris, with a bonus of being close by to CDG for your flight home? And the crowds in Paris should be a bit less by then. It's better than taking the last day from your trip getting to your departure city. Then in your first week you could head to Caen from CDG and spend the night to get over jet lag. Next day rent a car and drive the short distance to Bayeux. Spend 3 nights there (almost 3 full days). Then drive to the Loire Valley for chateaux and wine tasting, Spend 3 nights there (2 1/2 days). Drive to Paris (dropping the car at Orly Airport, for instance. From Orly take a fixed rate taxi to your hotel in Paris for that last week.) When you depart it will be easy to take a taxi or RER to the airport for your return trip.
To summarize, with 2 weeks (not counting departure day), leaving you 14 days on the ground), here is a suggestion:
Night 1 Caen
Nights2-4 Bayeux
Nights 5-7 Amboise (or somewhere in the Loire Valley)
Nights 8-14 Paris
This is just a rough itinerary, but maybe a start for you.

France is wonderful, and Paris is, to my mind, the capital of Europe. Amusez-vous bien!

P.S. CDG to Caen is by train.

P.P.S.
Renting a car in one city in France and dropping in another may have a drop-off fee, but it shouldn't be very much (if at all). In our experience we didn't have any fees at all. (Now in a different country......ouch!) Check out Autoeurope for prices.

If you are planning on visiting Normandy for a week, push the boundary west about 40 miles and include Saint Malo and Dinan. Driving in that area is very easy, not much different than driving in the US. We were in that area three months ago, then dropped our car at the Rennes airport and took a taxi to the train station since we don't want to drive in larger cities. Train to Paris took two hours. If you use trains, avoid OUIGO! Enjoy your honeymoon and I will be happy to answer any questions.

Congrats on your belated honeymoon. Yes, you've left it a bit late to get reasonable pric d lodging, but it's still possible.

If you can provide dates and a budget per night for your hotel, we can make some suggestions.

Have you already booked your flights? You could spend the entire time in Paris with a few day trips out of the city and not seeing everything. I assume you prefer not to rent a car. Contrary to what others may believe, the wine villages of Alsace are easy to visit without a car. Wine tastings, charming storybook villages, a castle and even a bit of WWII history thrown in.

We did a barge trip in Burgundy many years ago. It was a wonderful trip, but you may find availability to be difficult at this late date.

Lots of choice. Give us a bit more to work with so we can help you have a wonderful delayed honeymoon.