French Countryside -your favorites

My suggestion would be for you to concentrate on one region and get to know it a little better since you only have 1 week. There are so many delightful places to visit. I would do a little research and see what appeals -- Burgundy is nice, or Normandy or Brittany, or, my favorite, Auvergne. That's only a start!

Alsace is delightful. We have been twice, both times centered around Colmar. The first trip we hiked from town to town in the Vosges and went back for a car trip to have more time to explore each town and taste more wine, of which there is plenty and better then most of the Alsatian wines I have been able to find in the States.

There is much to explore around Colmar's canal; the small towns and villages west of there have a variety of activities - eau de vie museum and tasting, markets, Munster cheese-making, World War I battlefields and museum, and wine. A bit farther afield are some great textiles, both to buy and to learn the history of at a museum in Mulhouse. Hope this helps.

BTW, stay in Niedermorschwir, across the river from Colmar and into the mountains, for a good central location.

Lots to see and do in the Dordogne region. You might look around Sarlat. Prehistoric caves, castles, canoeing, gardens.
Le Petit Versailles in Beynac is a wonderful B&B and La Villa des Consuls is a good place to stay in Sarlat.

We love Burgundy, but have not been to Champagne. Our favorite B & B of all time is there- http://www.acarpediem.com
Many, many little villages to explore in the area. We really enjoyed the Alsace region too, but then you are getting further from Paris. You could chose two locations within Burgundy so you could do day trips in each area. Burgundy is very large. Or just stay at Carpe Diem :-) I think there is plenty to do around there, exploring different directions. We have spent 7 nights there with plenty to do. It is our favorite area! But, we have not yet been to Provence or Dordogne which our next on our list.

Normandy, based in Bayeux but with an overnight to Mont-St-Michel.

Dordogne, based in or around Sarlat (we also loved Le Petit Versailles in Beynac).

Burgundy, based in or near Beaune or maybe Semour-en-Auxois or around there.

I agree, each would justify a week. They're far enough apart that it would take you the best part of a day driving to get from one to another, which cuts your sightseeing time further.

We love Burgundy. You can just drive around and follow signs to interesting spots. There are lovely chateaux, abbeys, hill towns, verdant fields filled with happy livestock. Wonderful. Take a look:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/burgundy/
Normandy is also a great area but we like Burgundy best. The Dordogne is another fabulous part of the country. We are going to be spending a week there this September.

With Burgundy I think too you can not go wrong. If you take the route along Troyes you will drive through the most southern part of the Champagne region and is also nice.

Much overlooked is the Vexin region just north-west of Paris. You can drive through it on the way to Normandy. The half-timbered houses of Normandy are absolutely stunning, you can find them mostly east of Caen and north of Rouen. You can combine this region with Brittany.

The Dordogne is still on my wish list.

Depending the time of the year you want to do your trip think also about the weather. Inland France can be very hot in July and August, the coast will offer more possibilities to deal with the heat. Like Eef says focus on one region, or those easy to combine. If you prepair your itinerary well you can have in all the regions mentioned in this thread certainly a worthwile experience.

Just an idea and also to consider to my opinion: Build in flexibility to go to the region with the best weather, ofcourse best to decide once in France. Meaning little or no planning about the places you want to sleep, with B&B´s on the countryside and shoulder season shouldn´t be a problem. High season is harder to say and depends where you want to go. Many B&B keepers speak not or little English, especially on the countryside, you can ask them to help booking the next place. A good site voor B&B´s in France is: http://en.gites-de-france.com/ with info the language the owner(s) speak.

Ardech, Pas-de-Calais, northern France, Alsace-Lorraine, the Loire valley. Lots and lots of places are nice.

If you've not been to Normandy or Brittany you could spend a couple of nights in Bayeux, visiting the D-day beaches and seeing the WWII museum and tapestry, then move to the area of Brittany around St Malo. I spent 5 nights in a b&b just outside of Dol de Bretagne. It was very convenient for visits to St Malo, Dinan, Dinard, Mount St Michel, Rennes and more. I just loved that area and the small villages.

The b&b I stayed in was the Manoir Mettrie - http://www.manoirdelagrandemettrie.com/?lang=uk - wonderful place in the small village of Roz Landrieux, nice room, good breakfast, very reasonable rates. I'd stay there again.

Gigondas, in the Cote d'Rhone is my favorite village in the world. That's because of the wine . . .

Thank you to all, it is just what I have been looking for. As travelers we help each other and I appreciate all the replies. I will keep checking for any other thoughts.

Any recommendation for stay in Lyon? Thanks to everyone I have accomdations in Burgandy and Dijon.

"Any recommendation for stay in Lyon?"

I was there in 2007, but I enjoyed my stay at Hotel du Theatre: http://www.hotel-du-theatre.net/. It's right in the center, and the only potential negative is that there's no elevator, and you have to climb stairs just to reach the lobby. I'm also not sure how it would work with a car.

Since you'll have a car, I'd stay in a small town or village in Burgundy, not in the big cities. It's easier not to have to drive in/out of them. I stayed in Avallon, visited Auxerre, Vézelay, Noyers, Fontenay Abbey, Saulieu, and Beaune as day trips, including a couple winery visits, in 4 days.

Separately, I went overnight to Reims by train from Paris and daytripped from Reims to Epernay by train. You could detour on your way either to or from Burgundy for a night or two in Champagne, but park the car and use the train since you'll be drinking a lot of bubbly while you're there!

Or take the TGV to Strasbourg, spend 2-3 nights, then rent a car and stay in a village near Colmar to explore the delights of Alsace, then TGV back to Paris from STrasbourg or Colmar (depending on the rental agency).