River Cruises

Quite a few to choose from here ...
http://www.tauck.com.au/river-cruises/european-river-cruises/french-rivers.aspx
http://www.vikingrivercruises.com.au/cruise-destinations/europe/rivers/rhone/index.html
http://uniworldcruises.com.au/boutique-river-cruises/europe/2015/
http://www.amawaterways.com/provence-and-spain-2015
https://www.scenic.com.au/tour/enchanting-rhone-river-cruise/1815
http://www.titantravel.co.uk/holiday-types/river-cruising/search-by-region/the-rhone-and-saone
http://www.arosacruises.com/cruises/rhonesaone.html

(watch the different currencies)

js there are a ton of cruise reviews on cruisecritic.com including river cruises. A bit hard to find on the site, but worth a look.

TAUCK! We went on a Christmas Market River Cruise with them in 2013 and have booked another River Cruise for 2016. They are a family run company out of NewEngland...top notch all the way. They have won Travel&Leisure Best River Cruise for a few years now. They don't spend money on advertising like Viking, but they are a class above. 119 people, so smaller. They do have a Rhone Cruise.
http://www.tauck.com/river-cruises.aspx

Here's something I posted a few months ago last time someone asked this...
We LOVE Tauck. Viking is the biggest & most advertised - and you are on a RiverCruise in Europe, so you really can't go wrong. Do your research and know the differences, but go with what works for your budget & schedule.
Tauck is a family run company here in the USA who have been doing tours since the 1920s . We have been on many of their USA tours and they are truly wonderful. When we began researching RiverCruises in 2013, Tauck was definitely high on our list, but we still wanted to explore ALL the options. We went to AAA and they recommended Tauck or Uniworld to us. Because of our past experience with them, we chose Tauck. They are leaders in the RiverCruise world with BEST OF awards from TRAVEL & LEISURE.
Tauck is also TOTALLY ALL INCLUSIVE. No extra expenses or hidden fees - all tips, port fees, taxes, excursions, food, wine, is included in the price. There are extra excursions/etc that are available on some of the other lines, so just be sure you know that. They are not cheap, but SO worth it. We chose a CHRISTMAS MARKET RIVER CRUISE on the Danube because the prices are SO much better in December & how can you go wrong seeing the Markets!!??
The whole experience was top notch & we are saving to do the Christmas Market Rhine Cruise for Dec2016. The ship was beautiful, the staff went above & beyond. We chose the cheapest room category, but it was very nice w/a great bed & bathroom w/large shower. The food was fantastic. Breakfasts were both buffet and 'cook' stations w/every imaginable food, plus all the regional specialties & great coffees. You could go back to the boat for lunch, but we chose to eat in the towns. Dinners were 5course, order from a menu with 3-5 selections for each course - always the region favorites, but you could aways get steak, chicken, salads, etc - and unlimited red & white wines from the area we visited that day. The time spent in the ports was done very well. Along w/our staff - they hired "local guides" to guide us, show us the highlights, teach us the history, take us into the churches, abbeys, etc. We spent the mornings with the guides & then at lunch, the guided tour was over and we had time on our own to explore the town, Christmas Markets, etc. Shuttles were provided every 30min back to the boat for those who wanted to return to the boat. We were given 'surprises' everyday either in transport to the city, or left on our bed during dinner/bed turndown . . . Gingerbread from Nurmburg, Salt from Salzburg, Chocolate Apricots from Melk, etc - and a wonderful book about the European Christmas Markets. We can't speak highly enough about our experience with Tauck.

I've not done a river cruise in Europe but I have researched a lot of them (just in case I get a windfall - ha). There aren't any cruises that actually board in or around Paris nor any that end in Nice, if that's what you were looking for. There are several that have a land portion from Paris to where they embark on the Saone, usually around Chalon-sur-Saone and then train or coach from Arles to Nice at the end. Most of these are 11-14 day tours. I think there are shorter ones, 8-11 days, that just do the river portion from Chalon-sur-Saone to Arles - you'd have to get yourself from Paris to the staring point by train and from Arles to Nice by train on your own if you do want to actually go to Nice. There may be some local European cruise lines that I have not researched so you really need to try cruisecritic.com, unless someone comes on here that has done such a cruise. Hope you find what you're looking for.

I booked a trip through www.tripsite.com last year (Tripsite is a PA-based agency) and had good luck. They have a river cruise division, and you can search trips by country or river.

We just did a Rhine River cruise with Avalon, a line I have not seen mentioned above. It is a part of Globus. It was our first river cruise, and it was fabulous. Avalon's ships are all very new. Ours was on it's third cruise. Our bed & room faced outward and the outside 'wall' was three sliding glass panels, so our entire room became our balcony. The bathroom was glass and granite with lots of well thought out amenities. The bed was so comfortable, I took a picture of the name and have tried to get one here in the States (no luck - although Avalon and the manufacturer was totally helpful). The food, the staff, the extras, were all top notch. I would encourage anyone to look at the Avalon web site and watch their virtual tour of the room. I also checked with Tauck and although highly rated, they did not offer any pictures of their room, so we went with Avalon -- and we were not disappointed..

The Seine flows through Paris out to the Atlantic; it doesn't go down to Nice. You can find cruises between Paris and Normandy, though. Others have been mentioning cruises on the Rhone that start in Chalon-sur-Soane. I imagine the Loire, being very shallow, couldn't accommodate a river cruise ship.

We did the Viking tour from Chalon-sur-Soane to Avignon. In looking at their book for 2016, it looks like they currently start the tour in Lyon and end in Avignon. If you book your air with Viking, the departure airport is Marseille. I'm not sure what itinerary other companies are offering. We had no trouble adding a few days in Paris and then taking the train to meet the ship. Likewise, it looks fairly simple to add some time in Nice at the end.

We have cruised on AmaWaterways on the Danube and liked them very much. We have a river cruise on the Rhone planned with them in Oct. They cruise from Arles to Lyon or the reverse. They offer optional land tours to connect either from Barcelona or Paris. The land portions seem expensive and you could probably do better by booking your own, unless you like the idea of having all of that taken care of. We are not doing the land portion, but are flying in to Nice, then renting a car and seeing the Riveria and the Luberon area prior to the cruise.
Go to Cruise Critic under River cruises and read comments from people that have cruised on all lines. It will help you make your decision.