Wine tasting in Beaune and travel back to Paris

I'm expecting to drive through the area in May. I generally prefer to drop a rental car outside of a major city and train in.

You can train from Beaune. From what I saw, it looks like Colmar is the better, more direct, option. From Beune, I think it's a 15 to 20 minute train ride to Colmar.

I also like to get close to the airport the night before. In this case, I have a reservation for a hostel in Monmarte the night before I fly home. There can always be issues (delays, missed connections, strikes) so I like to always leave room to adjust plans if necessary. By getting back to Paris the day before, I can either take the RER to the airport or, in a pinch, catch a taxi.

With a rental car you can do wine tasting in any of the little towns along the wine route in the area. Be aware of their super strict drinking and driving rules, however, their limit is lower than ours. Without a car, Beaune has the big place right in town.

I think Brad has mistaken Dijon for Colmar. Dijon is a short local train ride away or a short drive and you can get a TGV back to Paris from there. Colmar is a few hours away.

You don't say which day of the week. If it's a Sunday evening, the car rentals are closed at the Dijon train station (use a drop box) but driving you will run into a few traffic jams as you approach Paris. Also, CDG is northeast of Paris, so you need to drive around the city to get there and drop the rental car there. Or, you could drive into the city and drop the car at any of the railroad station rental agencies, which are located in the rail station parking structures. From Beaune, it's about 3.5-4 hour drive all the way to CDG; slightly less if going into the city. Everything depends on traffic.

It doesn't pay to drive, pay tolls from Beaune to Orly Airport on the southside of Paris to drop the car and take a taxi or RER into Paris. You might as well just take the TGV from Dijon.

The train Dijon to the Gare de Lyon is faster than driving. You could stay in Paris or out at the airport.

Bets is right. I'm thinking Dijon. Colmar is also on my itinerary but not the short train ride from Beune. I'm planning a loop that includes south through Burgundy, north through Alsace, then back through Reims to Paris.