Hotel Reservations Necessary?

Not necessary but having a smartphone or tablet with internet access to book on the go would better your experience and chances and might be cheaper. I use booking.com for independently owned hotel. You don't want to randomly show up and there are no vacancies or have no idea of the price

We travel like this frequently and appreciate the flexibility of stopping where we like once we are done for the day. As long as you have internet access it's very easy to do. We use booking.com because it lists a very wide variety of lodging from traditional hotels to farm stays, apartments, gites, etc. Some will have minimum stays but you won't have a problem booking as you go. If you find it difficult you can always book a night or two ahead. As long as you aren't in the middle of nowhere it should be fine.

I always do better when I research and reserve. We have done this trip in 2 days -- the hotel I reserved was in a lovely small town and the whole afternoon was wonderful and the dinner on a terrace overlooking the river.

The other stop was okay -- the small hotels of France tend to have good dining rooms -- even if the rooms are 'summer camp.' I had a list of hotels along the route and when we felt like stopping we emailed the hotel previously identified. I have tried trips like this without the pre organizing of at least a list and have had some pretty terrible nights on the road that way.

We used to often travel France w/o any reservations, and it always worked out fine. And that was before Internet access. Once we got the last room in the only hotel in town, but if we hadn't, we would have driven to the next town. So I think your idea is good if you're not sure where you want to stop the next day. At least as long as it's not in the Summer.

Are you still thinking of traveling in April and May? Keep an eye on holiday and special event plans: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/festivals.

Time of year will make a huge difference in this endeavor. I would not do it in the July, August, or September and I would also always check for local and regional events in any month. I once spent so many hours trying to find a hotel in Normandy that I gave up and drove on to Paris.

Same has happened to us as JHK but both times it was on a Saturday night in summer. Now we always reserve in advance even if it's just the same morning. Smaller cities have fewer hotels, while rural areas can offer nothing. You can use booking.com and Lodgis de France to find places to stay while on the go. There's also the website for the modern chains in the Accor family of hotels.

I do fine without reservations. You're covering a long distance, however, in a short time. Are you sure you have time to spend searching for lodging?

The other big question is when? I travel shoulder season (May - early June, September - October) and always find perfectly acceptable vacancies. If you're traveling in August, it's much easier to reserve ahead. Also if you have your heart set on a particular place, you should book ahead.

Thanks to all for your helpful suggestions. We are making this trip the last week of September.