Leave Paris by train then rent car in Provence, Aix, Lyon?

The senior card might be worth buying for a Paris to Nice round trip by train, but it is not very useful for local travel, and there aren't any relevant rail passes.

In general: a car is a hassle in and around Nice (transit is good), but it is useful further west around Aix / Avignon.

Which smaller towns can only be reached by train or bus?

The TGV train takes 6 hours from Gare de Lyon in Paris. You need to reserve seats soon. Keep in mind you will lose two full days due to travel. You need to arrive back in Paris the day before your flight.

Base in Nice or Villefranche and use the regional TER train to reach Menton, Monte Carlo, Nice, and Antibes. Buy these tickets when you arrive. They are hop on hop off style so you can explore any towns in between your bookings. The train will drop you off 500m from the tennis club.

Why does one need to arrive a day before one's flight departs? TGV travel is quite reliable IME.

I must add that auto travel from Nice to Monte Carlo is quite possible, but also nerve-wracking. The Pont de l'Alma tunnel through which one travels to arrive in the city is high-speed, twisty and IMO dangerous. No real surprise that Princess Diana met her demise there. I personally would prefer other modes of travel to visit Monte Carlo.

Left Paris about 10 days ago.. The trip on the TGV to Avignon was about 4 hours. That's where we picked up our car. I've been to Lyon which is lovely. Avignon not so much. It was probably easier to pick up the car in Avignon. The biggest issue we have found is when we arrive into cities. Arriving at or around 5 pm is a disaster. Lots of pedestrians and bikes, plus students. eSo just keep that in mind. We also ran into a fair amount of road construction. For Monte Carlo, I urge you to take the train. Even though I have driven the coast years ago (and I'm used to Hwy 1 in California), you can choose several levels of driving on the coast on one of the, Les Trois Corniches. The train drops you about half to a mile to the casino. Not sure where the tennis tournament would be. Traffic will likely be heavy because of the tennis tournament. BTW, if you want to visit the casino, you must pay for the main lobby and with a passport. Staying in Nice is lovely, especially if you're near vieux Nice. You could also consider Villefranche-sur Mer. With that said, go to Lyon stay a night or so, grab another train to Avignon and pick up a car. What excursions do you want to do? What your proposing is possible, yet how wiped out do you want to be?

Avignon to Nice is three hours. It will still take six hours to get to Nice. Gare de Lyon is an hour from the airport. I don’t understand the logic of catching a six hour train and one hour taxi the day of an international flight, especially for senior citizens.

I’m not sure how Avignon fits into your plans, but it is too far from Nice to day trip between the two, either by car or by train. With less than a week available I think you should choose only on or the other. The TGV runs directly from Paris Gare de Lyon to Nice in a little under six hours, several times a day, and to Avignon in about half that amount of time. If you base yourself in Nice, there are more than enough beautiful towns to keep you busy for your six days, all reachable by public transportation. (Besides the train, Monaco is on a local bus route from Nice.) From Avignon, a car would be more convenient. Also, if your husband really wants to visit Lyon (which is a great city to see), I would suggest travelling to Lyon (from Nice, 4 to 5 hours by train) for the last two days of your trip. TGV’s run from Lyon directly to CDG terminal 2 in around two hours, which is not a whole lot more than it would take from downtown Paris.

Ottawanderer has a good idea about visiting Lyon on the way back to Paris by train. But I agree with the advice to be back in Paris (or at CDG) the night before your flight. Too many things can go wrong coming from another city to the airport on flight day, even with an afternoon flight.

If you want to base in Nice, you won't need a car. There's very good train service to most of the Riviera cities in both directions. If you want to spend time in Provence, a car will be helpful. But with your timeframe I would pick either Provence or the Riviera, rather than both.

Thank you for all the helpful comments… It’s clear we can’t do it all - or not worth trying to “do it all”. Seems like we can fit in Lyon on way back to Paris. Maybe a one night stop over in Lyon. Also pick a few surrounding cities to visit with Nice as a base. Any particular places to visit? I haven’t gotten past trying to arrange transportation and making some tentative hotel reservations in Nice and Paris.

… i have not been to France since 2014
… then I was not a « senior, but now am 🙀
I will be returning spring 2014
I bought for hubby & myself a senior card from SCNF for 49 euro each
Not really sure if it is saving me money
But I do know in Provence if u want to explore smaller towns a car is most convenient & easy ( pay attention to where u are arriving and departing from
In town or tgv stations
… we will arrive & depart from Paris after 4 days in Paris we will
Take a train to Avignon tgv station pick up a car for seven days
Then continue to nice -bills p via train & back to Paris vi a train to gare Lyon before our flight back to HOME 4 days later

… A car in nice would be a nightmare in my opinion

Monte Carlo is very easy to get to from nice
Either by bus or train

Bon chance

To be more efficient with your valuable time, how about the following:

Take an early morning train to Lyon (two hours), spend the night and then take a late afternoon train to Nice the following day (four hours). This gives you a little bit more than 24 hours in Lyon. Or, you could add an extra night and take an early morning train the day after that. Husband is right that Lyon is a special place to visit.

Use public transportation along the coast. Our family, that lives close to Menton, won't even drive into Nice to pick us up at the train station anymore due to all the construction work and barriers near the station. We take the commuter train.

Leaving Nice, take either EasyJet or Air France in the late afternoon or early evening directly to CDG airport and stay at an airport hotel. You'll be all set for your transatlantic the next day.

Practicalities: Looking on the SNCF Connect app at prices for a one-way Paris/Lyon and Lyon/Nice, the prices are too low for you to amortize the price of a senior card.

Airport hotel: We stayed at the airport twice in December at a hotel that was new for us although it's quite well known to others: the Holiday Inn Express, on the internal transportation line. I was surprised at how reasonable it was, especially with an AARP card. In fact, it was 50 euros cheaper for our dates than the Ibis, another chain hotel we use a lot.

Plan on Aix and Provence on your next trip. Come back real soon ;--)

I'm not sure that the poster above is aware that CDG airport has a TGV rail station onsite. One can take high speed rail directly from Lyon to CDG without going to Gare du Nord. Very convenient.

Thank you again for recommendations… we decided to skip Lyon this trip. Going to relax in Paris and Nice. Taking day trips from there. If anyone has a favorite from Nice for a day??? Love to hear about it!