Chamonix back to Paris - Ideas?

Fishing for ideas, I would consider putting Lyon in the mix. It's the culinary heart of France and has some interesting sights in its own right. You will probably need to change trains there coming from Annecy and Chamonix. I would give Geneva a pass. I think it deserves its spot on the RS list of places you can miss. Nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there.

Don't waste any more time using RailEurope. It doesn't have complete schedules, and marks up tickets it does sell. Use The Bahn site to find schedules in an easy-to-use format. To buy tickets for France, use TGV-Europe, choose Great Britain as your country, and don't allow yourself to be redirected to Rail Europe. Buy one ticket at a time, and choose either the "print at home" option or the "pick up at a French station ticket window" option. Do not choose "pick up at a machine with your credit card" unless you have a chip-and-pin card; the machines do not work with cards that only have a magnetic stripe. I'll second the recommendation to consider Lyon. It's my favorite city in France besides Paris. I haven't looked at your proposed route, but (as Sam said above) there's a good chance that when you go from Annecy to Beaune, you will be transiting through there anyway, since it's the rail hub for that part of the country. If you are going through Lyon (and even if you aren't), you may as well plan on a night or two to see it.

I love the Green Bay Packers and I like Geneva, in the summer months. You didn't say which month you are traveling. I believe Geneva is worth a minimum of half a day. If you were there overnight, I would suggest a walk around the Lake and eat at one of the lakeside Restuarants at sundown. I should have used a different guidebook, RS doesn't cover it.

Every itinerary between Annecy and Beaune changes at Lyon Part Dieu. Between Beaune and Paris there is sometimes a change at Dijon, so Dijon can be in the mix as well.

It's only two hours (or so) from Beaune to Paris, so how much of a break do you need? There's great stuff to see in central and northern Burgundy on the way to Paris, but without a car it would be much to much trouble and time to get there. I'd want two days in each Annecy and Beaune. With just one other day do not go far out of the way, so no Geneva or Colmar (unless you ditch Annecy). But you might consider a stop in Lyon, which is very enroute. Or just add a day to one of your existing destinations. Have a great time!

Would you prefer two days in Annecy over two in either Chamonix or Beaune?

a walk around the Lake what? All 124 miles around the lake? ;-) I do agree that a walk along the lakeside is very pleasant.

Adam has a good point -- Beaune is a good last stop before Paris, and especially if you don't have a car. I think your original plan is best! They say the town of Talloires on the lake is quite beautiful.

If you are considering Geneva, there is a minibus run from Chamonix to the Geneva airport that runs every 45 minutes. By train, it's 4.5hrs with at least two train changes. Not sure how long it takes by minibus but the fare is 29E. Alternatively, Annecy is very nice. As for Colmar, it really takes a long time by train and yes, you are mostly going through Switzerland. At least 7hrs and 5 transportation changes. Most runs take you to Basel according to www.bahn.de. Dijon and Beaune are also very nice. Nice train station and great high-speed train into Paris (we've taken this train). One last though is to rent a car in Chamonix and drop if off at the Dijon train station. Just make sure that your car rental company has an office there. I know that Europcar does because we returned our car there.

In my opinion, a day trip to Geneva is a day too much. I like your itinerary, and I like the suggestion of others as to Lyon. As to this Q: "Would you prefer two days in Annecy over two in either Chamonix or Beaune?" A: Annecy. If you want to read a little about Annecy, and see some photos, here's a link to my travel blog, which includes several visits there: http://www.mainelywinenews.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html
(This is one post on Annecy, there are more in the 2010 and 2011 archives).

OK, maybe I was too harsh on Geneva. The lakeside is pleasant, as Andre notes. And after walking around all 124 miles in the morning, I met Paul Ryan for a jog and we both ran sub-3-hour marathons in the afternoon.:-) Oh Oh, I think politics is a no no here.