Lyon then driving to the South France ideas?? anyone go on the perfume tours?

I'm confused about the timing. Is this it?

March 26: Depart Paris for Lyon (2 nights). Train: 2 hours; driving probably 5 hours. (Extra time for Dijon via both modes of transportation)
March 27: Lyon
March 28: Lyon to somewhere farther south
...
April 3: To Nice (1 night). Or are you departing from some other city?

I enjoyed Dijon; it has a very pretty historic area. I think there is an opportunity for mustard-tasting somewhere. Certainly it is easy to buy little jars of about a dozen different flavors of mustard for roughly 1 euro each. And I saw what must be the world's only mustard-vending machine in one of the mustard shops. But there's a lot to see in Lyon. If you stop off in Dijon and don't get to Lyon until after dark, you may be pushed to accomplish what you want to do in Lyon on March 27.

Are you planning to spend some of the post-Lyon time in Provence or all on the Riviera? March/April is (perhaps surprisingly) pretty far off-season for southern France, so before making a trip to Grasse you should verify that the desired perfume activities are being offered. That's not something I've ever researched, but I noticed that the farther you got from July/August, the more days per week the smaller museums were closed.

Dijon is nice, but not a patch on Lyon. Not worth a detour in my view, unless you are already spending time in Burgundy.

Note you can get from Paris to Lyon in 2 hours if you take the train. I would seriously consider that.

If your next stop after Lyon is the Rhone Valley area of Provence, it's not that far, whether driving or (faster) taking the train.

I guess my approach would be to consolidate your stops, not seek more of them.

Definitely rent a car in Provence if not sooner.

great thanks!
i just was not sure if the end of march was the best time to be in the south France... still maybe cold????

trying to come up with some ideas to do with the 2 tween girls as backup???

You can check actual day-by-day temperatures in Nice or other locations in southern France (or elsewhere, for that matter) on wunderground.com. Choose "History" then "Monthly" then March or April 2017. You should have access to about 20 years' worth of data. This will give you a good idea of the range of temperatures you might expect.

If you're interested in mustard a stop at the Edmond Fallot shop (https://www.fallot.com/boutique/) is probably a good idea.
Dijon is an underrated city. The Dukes of Burgundy, who were situated in Dijon, rivaled (in even a militaristic way) the king of France and there are places in Dijon (such as la Place de la Libération) that equal Paris in their beauty, owing to the wealth of the area.

That time of year you may encounter bad weather anyplace you go in France. That is why I suggested staying near cities where there would always be something to do. But if you bring the right layers and attitude you can still have a great time, and without the crowds.

So, have 2 sets of plans, one for clear weather and another for not. In the morning, check the forecast, and execute accordingly.

Everyone is so Helpful!
More to research!
Thank you