Paris Plus - ?

Allison,
Firrst things first...it seems you have two weeks in France (and/or Baecelona). Please don't underestimate the time it takes to go from one location to another. Count nights in a place, not days. e.g. 2 nights in the Dordogne means one full day and a part of a day when you arrive. When leaving a town or city, factor in checking out of lodgings, either getting to a train station or picking up a rental car, actual travel time, locating your new lodgings and checking in. From Bordeaux to Sarlat-la-Caneda is about 3-3 1/2 hours drive. A car is really a must in the area in order to visit the prehistoric caves. If you go there, try to stay a bit longer. A kayak down the beautiful river makes for a wonderful memory, as do visits to one or two of the castles from the Hundred Years War. (We were 7 people in June of 2023, from 9 years to 80 years old and filled ten days with activities), A stay of 4 nights (3 full days) will justify your drive there. And even longer is better.

Also, French cars are smaller than we are used to. A car that holds 6 people with their luggage would be a van over there. We needed two cars for our time there, and when five people left to return to Bordeaux before DH and I, they were pretty crammed, what with 5 small carry-on bags and five small backpacks. And two of the five personswere a 9 and 12 year old. Research your car size diligently. It is possible to rent something like a VW van, which would be more comfortable for six persons. Car rental options in Sarlat are smaller than in Bordeaux (or Tours, for that matter).
Outside of the Dordogne, you could use trains for your travels, which would work better for 6 people, IMHO.
Re Paris/Normandy..."Paris for the better part of a week" and "several days in Normandy". That sounds like more than one week. Remember travel time...and (speaking from experience here), getting 6 people going on a travel day usually doesn't entail brisk early starts, so half of your day is going from Paris to someplace in Normandy (Bayeaux, for example).

The Dordogne was a great success with all ages, not rushed, actually idyllic. I would opt for that for the full number of days you have after Paris and Normandy, There is a TGV from Paris Montparnasse station to Bordeaux. Lots of car rental companies at the station (Gare St. Jean) with fairly generous open hours. In returning, there is a TGV direct to CDG also, if you are not stopping in Paris on your return home.

(A side note...I could easily spend the whole two weeks in Paris with one or two day trips. Just a thought.)

(Another side note...a night in Bordeaux isn't wasted. You could all visit the Bassin de Lumieres followed by an excellent meal. There is a good tram system in town, and a nice old quarter.)

Re your other options. They mostly sound like too much time spent in moving around. Don't cut travel time short. Stick to one country. For reference, France is about the same size as California. It takes time to change locations, even if the train ride is a two hour ride. And arrival day is sort of lost/diminished/possibly jet-lagged. Departure day can be lost as well, depending on your flight time out.

I hope I have given you some helpful advice without being too discouraging, and that your wall of spaghetti will begin to resemble a coherent picture. Good luck!

just a thought about your option 2 - if your son wants to spring his Spanish on unsuspecting locals (I love the picture that draws in my head), is Barcelona the best place for that? Many, (most, all?) locals prefer to speak Catalan, the regional language, than Spanish. Sure they can understand Spanish and speak it fluently back to him, but would an interior city where Catalan is not spoken maybe be better for his game?

Allison,
What Nigel said.

I have a few notes about the Tour if that helps. We were in Paris for the final day in 2022, which was also the start of the TDF Femmes. So it made for a very long day with both races and it was also very hot the week we were there. But being able to see the women was so awesome! We sat along the wall between the Jardin de Tuileries and the Seine, next to the Pedestrian bridge. approximately here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7QNeXpuwBBfPVA4i8
The view from the other side, in the Jardin, was a little better, but directly in the sun and we were too hot.

Gendarmes/Police controlled access into and out of the Jardin from the bridge which made a few backups and some logistics tricky, not sure if it was worse that year because of both races, or if they've just gotten tighter over the years. But they will let you through, they're checking for weapons mostly. Access to the viewing areas is tricky and I never found a map that showed exactly which areas would be closed off or only have one route in/out.

Being by the pedestrian bridge was an easy escape to the public bathrooms, water fountain, and food stalls on the other side of the Seine. Highly recommend bringing a picnic with you and plenty of water. We had my 5 year old daughter and 2 teenagers (niece/nephew), the teenagers are into cycling and were on board, the 5 year old read most of the time. If we hadn't had my daughter I probably would've tried to get to the other side of the Jardin along the Rue de Rivoli or over towards Place de la Concorde.

Beyond the immediate race route, Paris didn't seem much busier that Sunday than any of the rest of the days we were there that week other than a few road/metro closures so I don't think you have to worry too much about that. Paris is a big city and can handle a lot of events. All in all it was awesome (and would have been better if it weren't 95 degrees outside).

We did this bike tour the morning of the Tour and it was pretty amazing riding through Paris in the early morning hours and going around the Arc de Triomphe roundabout with no cars.
https://www.fattiretours.com/paris/tours/paris-tour-de-france-bike-ride/

Dear All,

Thanks for the replies!

Judy - Thank you for all the advice. I'm glad to hear that your family enjoyed the Dordogne. We would only be five in the Dordogne, not six, so that will help a bit with the car, but I do take your point about making sure one is big/comfortable enough. As far as timing, I am saying a week but really the time with my husband is nine nights, not seven (arrive Saturday, leave Monday). The math works in my head, I promise! The issue we're having is trying to time a place before heading to Toulouse on July 14th (Bastille Day) or 15th, to coincide with the Tour's visit there. The rest day is a Tuesday, they ride in and out of the city on Wednesday, so this midweek thing is causing some issues with planning.

Nigel (and Judy) - Glad my son made you smile! Mainly he likes to order in Spanish at out local Mexican restaurant, where the majority of the staff is Spanish-speaking. My mom was the one who suggested Barcelona, and I even said to her, "Don't they speak Catalan there?" My dad (a native Spanish speaker) insists that he has only ever spoken Spanish in Barcelona, but maybe the people were just being nice.

BethB - Thank you! I read your response to my parents and I think it changed their mind about being in Paris for the last day. I know it will be crowded, and there are some things that, to me, are not worth the crowds (like the Changing of the Guard in London). But this seems like it's worth it to brave the masses to see the Tour end. I will have to look into the Fat Tire Tour! What time did you start?

Thanks again to you all! I think this trip is starting to take shape.

I believe our bike tour was 6:30am-8:30am. Not sure if the times would be different without the womens race also happening, but expect it to be early. Their office is near the Eiffel Tower, we took the metro there, it was just a few short blocks to walk. The mens race usually finished in the later afternoon so you'd have plenty of time for a nap or other acticities during the day before the race comes into central Paris.

I don't know your kids, but I took mine to Anne Frank House at 12. I had provided her book ahead of time, but I don't think he read it. He was not particularly mature or sophisticated at 12, and he did fine there. They do a good job of presenting the situation as if one has no foreknowledge but without dumbing it down, if that makes any sense.
That said, Dordogne. After Paris. Fly into/out of Paris. "Do" Paris first, get over whatever jet lag you are prone to, then get the car/van and head west. Put hubby on the train and continue on to Dordogne. Make it easy on yourselves.
Don't stay in Sarlat but do visit there to see the decorations from the Felibree. With a car, you can stay anywhere, so do a broad geographic search on AirBnB or a gites site for a house that suits your needs, both in Dordogne and in Normandy.

I would recommend visiting the Dordogne. we went there for a week with a car and never ran out of things to do, and I think it would appeal to your kids. One thing about renting a car in France is that a lot of the rentals are stick shift. If you can drive a stick shift, I would do so, as it probably is cheaper and I think you have more choices of vehicles. I would recommend you fly or take the TGV train to Bordeaux, rent a car there, and drive up to the dordogne. Peter