Travel advice for 6 week France trip May/June 16

Chamonix...my favorite hike in the world is the one to Lac Blanc on the other side of the valley from Mont Blanc. Definitely take the time to take the cable car up to the Aguille du Midi but this hike gives you an entirely different view. There is a beautiful little refugio there with a restaurant deck overlooking the entire range of mountains and glaciers surrounding Mont Blanc. It's one of the most spectacular views anywhere in the Alps and the hike to get there is not too strenuous if you're in decent shape. You can either walk up to the lake from the first gondola station or ride up one more level and hike down to the lake. Since you're going in May/June you should probably get off at the first station and hike up. I've been there in July several times and there has often been snow above the elevation of the refugio making a hike down from the top of the second lift impossible and dangerous.
At a slow pace (there are several quite steep places) you can hike up in about 90 - 120 minutes or so. It's nice to know there is food and drinks at the top! Ah, hiking in Europe!
Gorges du Tarn - All of the kayak companies are going to be the same. You can easily find them at the mouth of the gorge near the Roman bridge or along the gorge going up the valley. It's a nice day out to kayak up the gorge and then relax on the pebbly beach under the bridge for a while and swim. Watching the crazies jump off the bridge into the gorge is heart stopping but very entertaining! If it's hot there is a cavern tour along the gorge as well where you can escape the heat.

You will probably not get into the Font du Gaume so have a plan B. I would definitely do Lascaux II which although a recreation is an amazing one and it is easy to get an English tour. for the Font du Gaume if you are early enough to get tickets and they don't have an English tour get what you can. It is the seeing not the hearing that it is interesting. Pech Merle is IMHO too far out of the way and not interesting enough in terms of prehistoric drawing. It has the spotted horses but everything else is unimpressive. It is a beautiful natural cave with a lot of cave beauty so if that appeals fine -- but it is along trek to nowhere. I'd do Roffignac instead.

We canoed on the Vezerre and the Dordogne and really loved the stretch with the chateaux upriver from La Roque Gageac; we hope to do it again with friends this fall. Don't do the Vezerre -- really boring country for the most part once you pass Les Eyzies.

It is a bit out of the way, but I liked Peche Merle much better than Font de Gaume. Don't miss it.

Thanks everyone for their helpful advice. We are staying in both Milhac (Dordogne) for a few days and then near St -Cirq Lapopie so we have two bases to explore the Dordogne region (there is so much to see) before travelling to Carcassonne.

Well just goes to show you to each his own. I loved the Font du Gaume, have been twice before it became so well known and almost impossible to book. It was one of the most awe inspiring moments of my life standing in the presence of great artists from nearly 20 thousand years ago. Gave me goosebumps. To me Pech Merl while a beautiful cave is just a cave -- although the spotted horses are stunning. You should take a look on line at pictures of both to help make your choices. And seriously -- don't skip Lascaux II -- easy to get a tour and it is a faithful recreation of what Lascaux and the Font du Gaume looked like back in their prime. Because the Font du Gaume has always been open to weather, those images are greatly muted -- sort of black on black -- but the actual shapes are stunning.

This is just such a great region -- just reading other people's notes here makes me thrilled that we are going back this fall.