Place to stay between Dordogne and CDG

We did the marathon drive from the Dordogne to Normandy in one day. I don't remember how long it took, but it was mostly on the Autoroute, maybe six to seven hours. We stayed two nights at an Inn on the Seine, not far from Rouen. We stopped at Giverny on the way to CDG, staying overnight at a CDG hotel prior to our early flight the next morning. Driving directly from the Dordogne to CDG would be doable.

We did this this fall -- our plan was to do two days to St. Malo but we had to change our itinerary when I broke my elbow and needed surgery - so we ended up driving to Paris instead of Brittany. We stopped in Auxerre for a night -- it is fairly close to Paris and a lovely little town. We stayed at a hotel with secure parking right beneath the Cathedral on the river -- lovely town and evening. We had to get to our apartment by noon and this worked well -- we dropped the car at Orly and took a cab in. For you, I would drop the car and check into an airport hotel at CDG whether you do it in one day or two.

In any case, I would spend the last night at an airport hotel -- whether that means a marathon drive (we did that a few years ago and stayed at the airport -- it did mean we got in too late to go into Paris for dinner and had the worst meal we have ever had traveling at the Airport Hilton) I would find a nice town along the way and get there early enough to enjoy the afternoon and evening and perhaps morning -- and then get to CDG to drop the car by early afternoon, check into a hotel and then take the RER into town for late afternoon and dinner and then be back at the airport for your flight. There are lots of great little towns in Burgundy. Another one we stopped over a night in on a drive back from Provence was Semur en Auxois -- stunning little medieval town -- we later returned for a week we liked it so much.

Via Michelin shows about 7 hours (likely an underestimate) from Beynac to CDG, mostly autoroute but ending with what I'm sure would be a stressful drive around the near outskirts of Paris. It goes through Orleans, which might be a worthwhile stop with its cathedral and Joan of Arc history. A little off the track is Bourges, another cathedral town. A little off in another direction is Chartres, one of the best cathedrals in Europe if you haven't seen it. Any of these would make a good overnight stop and leave you with much less driving the next day. Then you could follow Janet's plan to ditch the car and get into a hotel at CDG, with time left to RER into Paris for that final evening before you fly.

Janet is right about Auxerre and Semour, and there are other great stopping points in Burgundy, but the region is pretty far east for your purposes and would add considerable driving time. I'd save it for another trip.

Or give yourselves that last day in the Dordogne and grit your teeth for that long final drive in one day to CDG.

If it was me, I'd do the marathon drive Saturday and stay somewhere within shuttle bus or taxi distance of CDG.
Turn in the car Saturday night or Sunday. I just don't like the stress of being too far out of range 24 hours before an international flight.

If I were to stop off someplace charming that's not too far out of the way on the route from the Dordogne, I might choose Giverny/Vernon or Chantilly. Further from CDG but more or less on the way from Dordogne are Chartres and Versailles.

When we did this in one day it took us a lot longer than 7 hours.

You don't have time to sightsee, so it would make no difference if you stayed in the Loire. Otherwise push on to Chartres. On Sunday be sure to get a start out of Chartres by noon at the very latest, or earlier if the Loire because all the weekenders and fall vacation families will be heading home to the Paris region by afternoon. Expect traffic jams if you are heading north still at 3 p.m. It's not a good idea to do your drive all on Sunday because it will be a heavy traffic day. Get to CDG early, check in to your hotel and drop your bags, return the car and go enjoy Paris as Janet has wisely suggested.

We recently drove Beynac to CDG, and stopped overnight in Montresor in the Loire. It was a great place to stay, and convenient. We also spent the night before flying out in Senlis, which is a 20 minute drive from CDG, then returned the car before catching our plane.

Thank you all for the suggestions?

Halfway to Paris the historic city centre of Le Mans is also worth a stop.