Southern France and Northern Italy combination?

Just be aware that if you rent a car in France, and hope to drop if off at the end of your trip in Italy (flying back to Paris), a lot of rental companies have a hefty surcharge for dropping off the car in a second country. Peter

The two regions are not that well connected. Also, Burgundy is a bit further north than you think and does not flow well with the rest.

A possibility could be:
- head straight to Avignon on arrival day
- Spend 2-3 nights there (no car), then another 2-3 nights with a car in a Luberon hill village. 5 nights total.
- Return to Avignon, take train to Lyon, spend 3 nights there. You could head all the way to Burgundy, but then you'd be far from Italy... And Lyon is lovely.
- Take train from Lyon to Turin, spend 3 nights there
- Head to Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore OR Varenna if you prefer Lake Como, for 3 nights
- Fly Milan to Paris, spend your final night there.

Thank you Peter for the reminder about car surcharges. And thank you Balso for the itinerary recommendation.
I now think that we will limit our time to just France, and leave Italy for another time. Having booked our tickets in and out of Paris is a done deal, so...
Thinking of spending our 14 days like this: (flying into Paris and out of Paris)
- Arrive Paris, train to Avignon, 4 nights. TGV to Avignon. Get car? Day trips to Carcassonne (by train?, day trips to: Les Baux, /Arles, Vasion -la-Romaine? Other suggestions?) Get car....when?
- Drive to Aix-en-Provence? 3 nights. We were there 25 years ago, loved it. Might be worth it again for a couple (or more) of nights? With car, what else?
- Drive to Nice, 2 nights--we've been here too...what to focus on here, day trips
- Travel by train (7 hours) to Beaune in Burgundy (stay in Beaune and nearby vineyards), 3 nights. Go to Chamonix? Colmar? Do we need a car for these two destinations?
- Back to Paris from Bauane ( 2.5 Hours by train), drivers drop off car in Dijon, then catch train)
Suggestions to this itinerary would be most welcome!! I am a bit overwhelmed and hope you can help me refine this!
Thanks
- )

Balso, oops, I forgot your recommendation about the Luberon hill town--this sounds great and I will think about adding it into itinerary

Hi, we did a similar trip last month. Flew into Paris then took the train to Avignon. We spent around a week in Provence exploring the villages with a rental car. We then headed to Nice for a couple of days then took the train to Milan. We spent another 4 days there exploring Lake Como, Bergamo, and Verona before flying out from Milan. Since you mentioned you will be flying out of Paris, I think there is a train (TGV or Trenitalia) that goes from Milan to Paris.

If you have been to Nice before, I would perhaps skip it this time. It takes you far from Beaune, not worth it for two nights. I would rather spend those two nights in a village in Provence, or in Lyon on the way to Beaune.

Both Chamonix and Colmar are way too far from Beaune to make for realistic day trips. There is plenty to see and do in Burgundy without going further afield.