Three week car tour in France

We rented a car on the southern outskirt of Paris by taking the metro to the car rental in Port Orlean so as not to drive in the city itself (the metro stop was about ¼ mile from the car rental). You could also rent a car in Tours, and take a train there (also to avoid driving in Paris). Then we drove to the Loire Valley, and rom there to Dordogne, to Cassis, to Provence, and so on. Are you flying out of Paris? You could end in Nice and catch a fast train back to Paris and return the car upon arrival in Nice. Unless you want to stop in other places on the return of course.

Hi,
You might want to edit your post because it accidentally got automatically formatted!

If I understand your list correctly, you would like to visit:
- Giverny
- Loire Valley (châteaux)
- Arles
- "Wine tours": which wine region? I'll assume Burgundy, because it makes sense geographically
- Markets: those are best in Provence, Arles is very good.

In terms of route, to me this is not a loop, but a one way drive. I would start with Giverny, head to the Loire Valley (stopping at Chartres on the way), then to Burgundy (Beaune area), and south to the Arles area. Back to Paris by high-speed train from Avignon TGV.

The minimum time for that driving itinerary would be 11-12 nights.

For car rental, most people here swear by the broker Autoeurope, which has good rates with major rental cos. and good service. A convenient starting point would be somewhere on the west side of Paris. Gare Saint Lazare, Porte Maillot, Porte de Saint Cloud all have a few brands represented.
You could then return the car directly at Avignon TGV station.

Alternatively, Giverny is an easy day trip from Paris without a car, and you could take the train from Paris to Tours St Pierre des Corps (less than 1 hour vs 2h30min driving!), renting a car there for Loire Valley and the rest.

You could also include the great wine region Cote de Rhone near Arles. Rick Steves Provence guidebook has a lot of detail for a drive in that wine region.

I have done something similar in my own car.

A possible loop is Giverny, the Loire for wine and chateaux (I stayed in Saumur and enjoyed the wine tasting at Langlois Chateau in town), Bordeaux, then loop up to La Rochelle (excellent food market), then return the car in Paris, which will avoid a one way drop fee.

Hello! We did a very similar tour to yours just last September/October. We rented our car from CDG, then drove west before heading south. Giverny is a very easy drive from the airport. You can then head southwest to the Loire region and later to Arles. You can, of course, do the trip in reverse (Arles, Loire, Giverny). I would probably sandwich the Loire region however you decide to drive simply because Arles is (nearly) directly south and Giverny is (nearly) directly north of Paris. I am not sure which wine tours you are thinking about, but you'll find wine just about everywhere you are hoping to go. There will be many vineyards to consider once you are in Provence. You can of course do lovely wine tastings in Paris, the Loire region, and elsewhere along your way!