This is about a 4-hour drive without stops, and you'll be leaving the airport in heavy rush-hour traffic, perhaps 1-2 hours after landing. Use Via Michelin to plan your route, which will take you toward Paris and then west toward Rouen and Caen. Most of it is on what we'd call freeways (but they're definitely not free), mainly the A13. These roads have rest areas (aires) where you can get coffee and snacks as well as gas, maps, etc. They're clean and comfortable. While you might find better coffee and croissants in particular cafes or bakeries along the way, you'll find the aire fare so much better than US versions that you might as well settle for it at this early stage. Given your day's journey you'll probably want to stop for lunch (and more coffee) too, maybe at a town off the highway. The farther you get from Paris, the more likely to find "small-town France."
Many on this board would caution you about taking on a long drive right after an overnight flight. I wouldn't do it myself, because I sleep very little on flights. I hope you, or your driver, can do better with sleep. Driving in France isn't especially difficult, but driving in high-speed traffic anywhere, in an unfamiliar car, with inadequate sleep, may be asking for trouble -- not just for you and your party but for all the other drivers you'll encounter. Are your plans flexible enough to consider spending that first day and night in Paris, and then renting the car the next morning? You could pick one up in western Paris or take the train to Rouen or Caen and get it there.
