Need to round out my France Itinerary--where to spend two days between Annecy and Paris.

You've only given yourself one full day and bits of two others in the Dordogne. That's where I'd use the extra time, assuming you've been to Paris before. If not, I don't know what I'd do--maybe cut Carcassonne to one night in transit and spend the other night in Paris. You're moving around a great deal, blasting past a lot of places I would want to see.

I guess you're planning to drive. Be sure your car-rental company is OK with taking the car on the two ferries if you intend to do that.

Thanks,
You’re confirming something I was considering; more time in the Dordogne and skipping Carcassonne.

As for blasting by lots of good places, I’d love to hear what you think are the must see stops. To me, it seems easy to whittle things down. Our Germany experience made us realize we don’t like too much of a single thing; by the end of the trip, we were rather burned out on castles and cathedrals. I understand France is full of marvelous Châteaus, but we don’t need to see every one along the way, just a couple key ones will be adequate.

I would still suggest staying or stopping in Carcassonne for one night -- yes it's castle-like and medieval (pseudo, since it was redesigned), but it is one of the most popular sights in France. But a half a day is fine. On your trip to Marseille to catch the ferry, you might also want to stop in Nimes or Arles for lunch, depending on your schedule, or spend some time in the city. In that edge of the Languedoc/Provence, the architecture and scenery does change quite a bit, plus you have some nice Roman ruins.

It's all quite a bit to cover, in terms of distance.

On your leg back from Annecy, you could stay in Dijon or Reims for a night. It depends on how close to CDG you need to be for your flight out -- and how early you want to travel. You could also stay another day in Annecy and do a day trip into Geneve or Mont Blanc (weather is still dodgy). It also depends on your return port from Corsica -- if it's Genoa or Savona you will already be passing by some great places like Torino or Mont Blanc/Chamonix.

My feeling about must-see places is that there are either none (every traveler's interests are different) or too many (in most European countries it's hard to travel 10 miles without coming to an interesting stop). Gooster has mentioned quite a few places that I found worthwhile.

I totally agree about the need for variety--except when it comes to picturesque towns (or historic districts of larger places). I just can't get enough of those.

Between Sarlat and Carcassonne, your route takes you past Toulouse, which is a very handsome red-brick city. It has a look very different from the other places you'll see. It's large, though, and I'm not sure how you would deal with a rental car there; you might need to park it quite some distance from the beautiful historic district.

Between Carcassonne and your port for Corsica (Marseille?) you have Narbonne (good-sized) and Montpellier (large university town with atmospheric historic district). Not far off your route is Pezenas, which I learned about on this forum; it's a cute town know for crafts. There's also Sete, a coastal town that I enjoyed, though I preferred Pezenas. The marshy Camargue area is just south of Arles. Aix-en-Provence is an attractive city in its own right, but it also has a very interesting WW II site, Camp des Milles, a transit and internment camp blessed with very comprehensive English-language explanatory material.

If I were choosing between Dijon and Reims (both not quite on the direct route, I think), it would be Dijon all the way. Reims is just not as physically attractive as Dijon. However, there's the champagne thing going on in Reims. I think I remember recommendations for Sens but don't know anything about it. Troyes I really liked. It has lots of half-timbered buildings; gets lots of European tourists (perhaps primarily French), but very few Americans, and I never saw a tour bus. Right near the highway is Beaune, known for the Hospices de Beaune (aka Hôtel-Dieu).

Thanks all. You've really helped me bring this into a reasonable scope that I think each of the three of us with our own individual interest will enjoy.

Dropping Carcassonne and Corsica. Will hit a Corsica-specific trip (with possible side trip to Sardinia) probably in 2020.

For now, freed up time will give us more time in Paris and Sarlat, and still leave time to hit Colmore (which was on my original wish list) and finish in Reims.

Still a lot of ground to cover, but instead of sleeping in 8 places, we're down to 5. Spread across 17 days, this will be, for us, a relatively relaxed pace.

Still thinking of scaling back one more stop. Considering (after Annecy) dropping Colmar/Reims, and grabbing just one stop between Annecy and Paris. Anybody have any insight on Sens? It looks attractive and very French.

EDIT: Dijon looks incredibly picturesque/quintessentially French. I'll have to consider that instead of Colmar/Reims.

Troyes looks like an excellent option. Thanks for the tip!

To answer your original question..." suggest for a good stop closer to Paris and on the way from Annecy?" Dijon which has TGV to Paris. I'd stay nearby in Beaune.

Thanks to all for all the helpful inputs.

Further culling of the agenda has freed up a few days on the itinerary.

So....
It looks like there's tons to do between Paris and Sarlat, so rather than busting straight through in a day, What would make a good two day stop inbetween? Chateauroux? Maybe some smaller destination in the countryside?