France Trip Advice

Dijon is nice, and you could side-trip to Beaune, but I'd prefer Lyon or perhaps (though not on the path to Paris) Nice. I was a bit short on time (and ill) during my stay in Lyon, and I didn't get to Vienne, a smaller spot south of Lyon that sounds charming.

Nice is a super-convenient base for the Riviera when you don't have a car. There's frequent regional-train service along the coast, with no need to buy tickets in advance (though you may have to line up for the ticket-vending machines at Nice Ville Station). Nice is also the hub for buses up to the hill towns. I found the tourist office outside the Nice Ville Station very helpful with information about the surrounding area.

If you prefer a smaller, cuter town as a base, you could choose one of the other coastal spots, but do some research on the towns you'd like to visit to be sure you aren't increasing your travel time by choosing an inconvenient base.

I know there has been at least one suggestion on the forum for an attractive town to stay in near CDG (Senlis?), but I don't know whether it would work well without a car.

We have to be in Paris at the start of the trip for a special memorial service for my father (so those dates are set).

Personally I wouldn't choose Nice or anywhere on the Riviera between late June and early September, because it will be fairly mobbed with tourists from all over Europe. Late June might not be quite as bad as later in the summer because many schools and universities are still in session, but still.

Working backwards from your need to end up at CDG and avoid "a night at a sad airport hotel," I've got to ask whether your kids have any great interest in Disneyland Paris? That could be your last full day, with your last night at a hotel nearer to Disney. There is even a shuttle service! https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/guest-services/transfer-from-paris-airports/ Just a thought.

Whether or not you choose to spend your last day there, the options for things to see and do in Lyon and Dijon are many, and the food is great. I'm not sure how appealing Beaune would be for kids, since its charms are centered around wine and ancient architecture. With Lyon as a base you could go up to Annecy and Mont Blanc -- that would give you some scenery very different from what you will have seen in Provence.

Where in Provence are you staying? If you are dropping the car in Avignon just because you want to see Avignon could you do that while you are in Provence for a week, maybe as a day trip? If it was me I would probably arrange to drop the car in Nice and drive from Provence to Nice along the coast, then drop the car there - you won't need it in Nice - and then fly to Paris from there.

Thanks, Bob. I may be mis-remembering something I read about Vienne long ago.

Everything you are saying says "Lyon" to me.

There is just so much to do and see and eat there. Roman ruins you can climb on, a medieval section with a terrific backstory, boat rides, a zoo, a funicular, trams, art, farmers markets, a bikeshare system, a museum of the Resistance... and, the TGV goes directly to Charles DeGaulle, nonstop, in 2 hours.