maybe 3 weeks instead of 2...

I would budget about $100 per day p/p realizing that in expensive cities like Paris, Venice & Florence you will prob mostly picnic. Arles is a great base for Provence need 3-4 days min.. Nice can be very expensive and crowded dep. on season. You will spend xtra for transport to Venice and Florence(both well worth the detours but you need ample time to enjoy) which can get pricey and will put you over your budget. If this is your first trip to France I suggest you see it well and save Italy for another trip to incl Rome. The travel time (&transport costs)to reach/return from Venice and Florence is really lost time and eats at your 3 wks window & budget.. And to see these blockbuster cities you need min 3-4 days ea. 3 weeks may seem like alot of vacation time but Paris, Versailles, Chartres, Provence, Fr. Riveria and surrounds are not to be rushed. They are amazing!
If you stay in France you will see alot more and stay within your budget. e if you have more detail questions.

Bethanie, With the addition of the extra week and other locations, your plans now include visiting about 8 locations in 19 days (you'll lose two days in travel). That's an average of a bit more than 2.3 days per location. While it may be feasible to get to all those locations, it's important to keep in mind that each time you change locations it will "cost" both time and money. Your budget of $4000 is about €3000 (at today's exchange rates) so that may be a "limiting factor"? Under the circumstances, I'd probably consider just visiting the "highlights". Using open jaw flights (into Paris, return from Rome), you could (for example) visit Paris & area, Nice/Monaco & area, Venice, Florence & Rome. That would provide a brief glimpse of the two countries, using a fairly efficient route. Regarding "how many days in each", I'd recommend at least four days each in Paris and Rome, as there's so much to see! Happy travels!

Ken, that's exactly what we are planning on :) Maybe we should get a rail pass.

I'd spend 4 or 5 days in Paris, 3 or 4 days in Provence, no days in the Cote D'Azure, 2 days in Venice, 2 or more days in Florence with possible one-nighter in Siena or San Gimignano, and the balance (4 or 5 days) in Rome. Figure Provence to Venice as a whole day of travel, however you go, unless you take the night train (which is quite roundabout, via Dijon). If you do get a railpass, however, the night train might make sense, though I do not necessarily recommend one for this itinerary. Not to add to your budget, but you'd see a lot more in Provence with a car for a few days.

Let me get this straight. Is that a total of four grand each or does that amount have to cover the two of you? Edit: and does the four thousand have to cover the translant airfare?

Ed, $4000 each. And it includes airfare. In my previous thread about a 2 week vaca to Paris and Rome, everyone was saying $4000 was more than enough. We want to stay as long as we can, budget allowing.

Bethanie, "Maybe we should get a rail pass." Before you decide on a Railpass, you'll need to do some "number crunching" to determine whether a Pass or P-P tickets will be more cost effective. There's a simple planning map in the Railpass section of this website that will provide a rough estimate on the cost of P-P tickets. One thing to keep in mind is that Railpasses do not include reservation fees that are compulsory on some trains (usually the fast trains such as the TGV in France). You would have to pay separately for those, so it's important to factor those into your trip budget as well. Cheers!

Ken, using sncf and trenitalia, I've added up all the trains we will be taking and it is around $185. The France-Italy railpass for 5 days of travel (Paris to Versailles, Paris to Nice, Nice to Venice, Venice to Florence, and Florence to Rome) is $275. So definitely we wont be getting a rail pass. Thanks for the advice!