Itinerary advice for the Southwest of France.

My only comment is to re-think 5 nights in Bordeaux. IMO that is much too long. I would suggest at least 3 of those nights be spent in the Dordogne Valley. The Dordogne is about 2.5 hours from Bordeaux.

On the last point. Many French people do speak English, and we have always found that those who don’t are very willing to help anglophones who make an effort.
As for destinations, have you scoped out what you want to do in those places? In my opinion, 5 nights would be better spent in the Dordogne than in Bordeaux. Think prehistory sites, medieval castles, charming villages, canoeing on the river, great food and wine, etc.
I am also not a fan of Carcassonne. Too many restaurants and shops selling tacky souvenirs. If you need a stop in that vicinity, there are plenty of more interesting places, Albi, for example.

Toulouse is a lovely pink-brick city from which you can day-trip to Albi, so for me it's a worthwhile stop. However, since it's a good sized city (meaning possible parking challenges), I'd recommend looking at a comprehensive guide book to see what sights you'd be interested in there, to see whether you'd do as well basing in a smaller place with perhaps easier car access.

Bordeaux is a handsome city, more monumental than intimate, but it does have some old neighborhoods. I agree that 5 night is much longer than I would recommend, though it's a practical base for St-Emilion if you'd prefer not to do that by car. Especially since you're driving, I super-highly recommend the Dordogne. I had a great time there without a car, and I know it would be even more fabulous with your own wheels. In addition to many cute little villages--often not accessible by public transportation--and caves with prehistoric art, there's lovely scenery and a whole bunch of very nice large towns/small cities like Cahors and Figeac. I liked the Dordogne so much that I'd recommend you eliminate Toulouse/Bordeaux/French Basque Country if necessary in order to include the Dordogne.

Speaking of the Basque Country, St-Jean-de-Luz is a cute small town, quite touristy but fun to wander around. I prefer somewhat larger places when I stay somewhere for 3 or more nights, but then again I don't have a car to worry about parking, or to free me from the tyranny of bus schedules so that I can eat in a different town if I want to. Biarritz I didn't like nearly as well as St-Jean-de-Luz. The architecture was not all that attractive to me, and it just didn't grab me. The town felt like an aging resort and sort of stuffy (no reflection on the people, who were perfectly nice). I had a rainy day for Bayonne, though, and considerable difficulty locating the tourist office (it had moved), and that sort of thing can make quite a difference. Still, I don't think too many people have said thy preferred Biarritz. I did like the privately-run Asian Art Museum in Biarritz, which has a very impressive collection focusing on southern Asia.

I was very happy I had chosen Bayonne as my base for the French Basque Country. It has largish historic areas on both sides of the river, a good art museum and even a chocolate museum with an amazingly generous tasting room. What's not to like about a chocolate museum?

I didn't get to any of the Basque mountain village, something I'd recommend you try to do since you have a car.

I do not even have high-school French, and I didn't have any trouble during my two recent long trips to France.

wow! these are great suggestions and exactly what I wanted to know. Anyone have experience flying out of Bordeaux? We will have a few days to spend somewhere not too far away that has an international airport to return home. we will have already been in Paris, and have been many times, so I am thinking of a quick return 4 nights to Barcelona, or if available, a quick 3 nights in Dublin.

This is my itinerary through the area, hopefully you can pull some ideas from it:
- Started by flying from Paris (after a few days there) to Toulouse. Rented a car and went to a sporting goods store. Bought a tent, sleeping bag and pad (about 80 euro total). Not everyone wants to camp, one reason I went solo, but I'd never tried camping in Europe before.
- From Toulouse drove to Carcassonne and camped at a campground walking distance into the old center. Used Carcassonne as a base for day trips and only went into the center at night.
-One of the day trip sights was Foix castle (favorite). Others worth seeing were Alet les Bains, Chateaux Peyrepertuse and Queribus. Places I would have liked to have visited, but didn't, include Narbonne and Collioure.
- From Carcassonne headed north. First stop Albi. The cathedral is worth seeing, otherwise I felt the city was skipable. I'm not a Toulouse-Lautrec fan so the museum wasn't of interest to me.
- Still going north, visited Cordes sur Ciel (favorite). It's an almost too perfect medieval village. It's supposed to be packed in summer. In June, it wasn't crowded at all. If you're going in high summer, a possible alternative would be Puycelci to the west.
- Still north, the next stop was Najac (favorite). I loved the town and castle here and found a great campsite under the castle. In June, there were few restaurants open - and they were booked - so I had to go to another town to get food.
- Northwest to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie (favorite), a beautiful town overlooking a river.
- First thing in the morning visited Peche Merle caverns (favorite). I arrived about 30 minutes before opening and had no trouble getting on the first tour of the morning.
- Sidetracked west to Figeac (okay) and Conques (favorite). Anyone who recommends Rocamadour hasn't visited Conques. Conques is head and shoulders above Rocamadour in every way (including church, views, food, prices and no mass tourism). Talked to a Scottish gentleman in Figeac who was touring on his bike and, ironically, ran into him again later in Bordeaux.
- Rocamadour. I was underwhelmed. I wouldn't recommend it even if you can't visit Conques. Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is a far better town (except for the famous church) as well.
- Next campsite was near La Roque-Gageac. Used that as a base to see Domme, La Roque-Gageac, Beynac and Chateaux Beynac and Castelnaud (really all favorites).
- Sarlat next (favorite). This is big enough to settle in for a few nights and a very pretty small city.
- Next a day stop at La Roque St. Christophe (okay). Enjoyed seeing it. Not sure I'd go out of my way for it?
- Périgueux. I really enjoyed the churches, rare examples of Basilica San Marco (in Venice) type architecture. Overall the city doesn't reflect the level of historical importance it enjoyed.
- Brantôme. This is oversold. There are a few good views for photos. Otherwise nothing special here, I'd skip if I were going through the area again.
- Saint-Emilion (favorite). This offered much more than most small towns. The underground church (monolithic) was worth seeing. I liked that if you want to climb the bell tower, you ask at the TI and they hand you a key. I could see how crowds might spoil this in the summer. Of all the places I visited, this was the most crowded small town.
- Skipped Bordeaux, for now, and drove to Arcachon. I wasn't impressed. It was early for the crowds but I didn't find anything particularly interesting about the city.
- Camped on the coast about 30 km south of Arcachon (favorite). Really just drove a ways and picked something that had good reviews. The beaches were uncrowded but they were in full prep mode, getting ready for the summer season.
- Finally Bordeaux for the mid-June wine fest, stayed in Airbnb. Great time to visit (but 5 days is too many). Stay close tothe center. Public transport is seriously lacking.
- Train from Bordeaux to Paris and flew home a few days later. Roughly a three week trip.

Check out this delicious review of the Gascony region from the NY Times.

Thanks for all the input, gives me a lot to research. If I look at all these small towns, any suggestions on where to stay to perhaps do day trips from several spots? central place in langedoc, central place in gascony, central place in dordogne?