Food tour of French countryside (not Paris)

While I can't give you suggestions for the specific areas you list, it seems that a stop in Lyon could be in order, there are certainly many unique regional restaurants there. We will be there in September, I'm hoping for a wonderful Quenelle in one of the Buchons.
Also, I have to say that way too much has been made of this survey which Mark Bittman refers to, it ostensibly portends the end of great French food-nothing could be further from the truth, in my opinion. For so-called foodies like you and me, this issue naturally becomes a small concern, since what we are doing tends to weed out a lot of these sorts of eateries. The new home cooking logo and "rules" are a French tourism publicity stunt. By taking an honest look at a given restaurant, bistro, cafe, etc (I'll leave brasserie's out for now...) and using many different sources of information to decide if one wants to dine at a given spot, we can gain lots of assurance that it will be a unique experience using the freshest of (site prepared) ingredients. To actually consider canceling a trip based on one inflammatory article or "survey" is over the top. Go to France and eat good food.

Dave,
Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement. We had pretty much decided to ignore the negative comments in the NY Times article, and plan the trip we'd been dreaming about . We will definitely look into Lyon, as it would fit nicely with the itinerary that is taking shape. We just heard about my brother and sis -in-law's trip to northern Italy (Verona, Florence, Venice and the lake area up north). We're thinking of doing Beaujolais, Provence, and then over to Tuscany. We hope to be able to post some good info when all is done.
Miriam

I would stick with the Michelin red guide book, or on line at viamichelin, to find regional restaurants that do most of their own cooking. Get to know the symbols in order to distinguish between a good restaurant in a pinch and a very good one. There you'll find chef-owners who take pride in their product.

Bets,
Thanks for your suggestion. We have the red Michelin guide, and will definitely use it.

I posted this link on another thread - but this might interest you

Eatwith

Thank you, Christi!

The other thing I thought of just as a reminder is to get recommendations for Sunday's. Sunday's in France are commonly set aside for family time and many restaurants are closed. Not sure how widely it is still practiced - I am thinking still pretty common in the countryside & smaller towns.

Not just France though - we were in Ulm, Germany last year on a Sunday and there was not one restaurant in town open - zip, zero, nada! The only exception was the train station! It was a rather cold & rainy day - we braved the weather long enough to see the Dom, walk to the train station and have a hamburger, stop at the store there and buy some snacks, beers & wine then back to the hotel to hunker down for the rest of the day! It was actually a welcome day of rest during a 6 week trip.

Contrary to Christi's perception of restaurants on Sundays, it has been my experience that large family gatherings at midday on a Sunday are quite common in restaurants. We have often seen four generations being seated for Sunday lunch as we toured France. And by the way, the children behaved very well as did the dogs!

I guess Norma it just depends on where you are. I was mainly speaking of the ones you will find in the countryside - or small village. Some might be open for brunch or lunch hours 12:00 - 14:00 but not for dinner. A few that come to mind are Cléménce Estaminet, Auberge des Trois Marchands & Lancelot. Our first time we were unaware of this and drove a while before finding one open.

The Michelin Red Book will keep you on track. I also usually appreciate (recent) reviews from NYT's Mark Bittman and from The Guardian. It's no guarantee, but when the menu is hand-written on a blackboard, I usually believe that it is seasonal and fresh. While it would be easier for a braised coq au vin, a duck confit, or a dessert not to be made in-house, a grilled meat or fish at least must be cooked on the spot.

I'm glad Christi clarified that she meant dinner on Sunday, not lunch. You could starve on Sunday night in some places after feasting at noon--but you'll have your Michelin with the closing days and weeks listed.