First trip to France...but want to see the alps...torn on itinerary

Works for me! You could fly into Paris and home from Nice - or vice versa. Be aware that all the higher level hiking trails in the Alps will be closed in May - still too much snow on the ground. You may also want a back-up plan in case the alpine weather is bad. When you get to Paris if the forecast for the Alps is poor, you could always detour to Colmar or somewhere in the Burgundy region.

This would work just fine. I recommend starting in Paris (5 nights), train to Avignon and pick up car (5 nights in Provence), drive to Chamonix (3 nights), drive to Annecy (1 night) - fly home from Geneva (45 minute drive from Annecy.

If you don't want to rent a car, then include 2 nights in Burgundy (Beaune), reduce Provence to 3 nights.

Sounds like a great trip to me. In 14 nights you really can't cover both the west and east sides of the country - you would have to choose to make cuts anyway.

"Would a Paris-Chamonix-Provence 2 week trip be OK for the first trip to France, considering we'd miss Normandy and the Loire valley?"

Repeat after me: On this trip, I will see what I see and I will miss everything else, and that's OK because it's all good.

This is my travel mantra, and over the years it has saved me much grief.

You can't see everything in a country on one visit, and what you will and won't like can't be determined until you actually see it. So, if you're more drawn to Chamonix than to Normandy or the Loire valley at this time, that's fine. Like all of us, you'll just have to return to see the places you "missed" this time, or the new places you didn't even know about, but learned you wanted to see by taking this first trip.

That's what happened to me with Italy. I didn't go to Rome on my first trip because I was more interested in other places. People were scandalized - "how can you go to Italy and not see Rome?" But on that first trip, I got the desire to see Rome, so I went on my second trip - and it's now one of my favorite places in Italy, or indeed anywhere. Who knows if I would have liked it if I had gone there on that first trip, not really wanting to.

It's your trip and you can go wherever you want, taking into consideration how much time you have. I didn't go to Normandy or the Loire until my 4th trip to France. After 5 trips I still haven't made it to the Dordogne. Maybe next time.

With 14 nights I would spend 7 nights in Paris ( definitely not too much time), then take a train to Chamonix. I've not been (yet!) so I can't advise where is best to pick up a car. Spend 3 nights, then drive to Provence for 4 nights. I've stayed in both Arles and St. Remy, and enjoyed both locations as a base. Fly home from Marseilles. Or you could fly into Nice, spend 2 nights and then pick up a car. Drive to Provence (3-4 nights), then Chamonix (3 nights). Train to Paris and spend your remaining nights there.

You have options. My best advice would be to give yourself enough time in each place, even if it means going to fewer places. In my opinion you original plan is too many stops. Assume you will return some day.

Actually your original idea would have been way too ambitious for a 14-night trip. What you have proposed is much better.

I'll caution, though, that in May the Alps may entail a good deal of mud.

Have a great trip!

I suggest you include the Alps. The question I would be asking is "What is worth seeing & taking away from time in the Alps"? And the answer is, Chenonceau, Mont St Michel, and, in Paris, d'Orsay, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Champs-Élysées & Arc de Triomphe. Not Dordogne. Not Nice. Not Provence.

What are you going to see in Paris? 3 days to see the Louvre, d'Orsay Museum, Montmarte, St Chapelle, Notre Dame, cruise the Seine, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe. And be sure to see the 1/4 scale model of Statue of Liberty that is on an island in the Seine just down from the Eiffel Tower. The Picasso museum in the Marais district is worthwhile.

Take the 12 hour bus tour out of Paris to the Loire Valley and see Chenonceau & two other chateau
https://www.pariscityvision.com/en/loire-castles-tour
or there are 2 and 3 day trips that include Mont St Michel https://www.pariscityvision.com/en/france/loire-valley-castles

Then head Chamonix via to Colmar where you can see the half-timbered medieval town.

You might google 'french alps or swiss alps'. In what I read, there is a preference for Murren (I loved it) but Chamonix is said to be nice, just a larger city (with more food choices). I think I would enjoy the larger Chamonix.

Rick Steve's itineraries are only suggestions. IMHO, he skips more than he sees because the itineraries cover too much ground. I've decided to see France in roughly four two week loops. The first two were Northwest (Normandie, Brittany and Loire last September) and Northeast (Burgundy, Alsace and Champagne this May). The order was solely based on my preference at the time.

In September, I'm taking my third French trip. This one will be Southeast. I'm flying into Paris for two nights, training to Lyon for two nights, renting a car, driving to Chamonix for two nights, driving through Gorges de la Bourne, then down to the Ardeche, Arles to see Provence (four nights), another four nights in Juan les Pins on the Riviera, then flying back into Paris for a few nights before flying home. 16 nights total.

I expect to take the last loop, Southwest, next June.

I'm probably spending more time in the Riviera than I need to, but I like the ocean. If I changed anything, it would be another night in Provence, reducing time on the Riviera (especially if it's in May) and lumping all the Paris time into one block (but this is my third time to Paris). Yes, I think you can cover Paris - Chamonix - Provence in two weeks. I think going south in May is a good idea. September was nice for my Northwest loop, but May was too early in the year for the Northeast (which is why I think I'll wait until June for my fourth trip).