France

Dorothea, You don't say when you will be going. I assume -correctly??- that if you want to see Lavender fields in bloom you are talking about late July or early August? If so, the coastal regions will be quite hot and busy so driving, particularly in the Côte d'Azur. You mentioned Marseille, but then also Barcelona. Are you aware that they are quite a long way apart? A traditional place to stop between Paris and the Côte d'Azur is Beaune or Dijon - Beaune for a small walled town in the vineyards and Dijon for a larger city very close to it. We love the area around Orange, but not really the town itself. Nice can be very busy in the summer. The Rick Steves Guidebooks to France and the one to Provence and the French Riviera have a wealth of information in them.

Do you really want to see the south a bit, or is your goal a road trip? If the former, I would plan to take the train to Provence and rent your car there. Set up in a small town and take day trips. You would not be bored. There are many wonderful things you could see and do.

Forgot to put I am going around the middle of July next year.
Dorothea

I think it is 3 hours to Barcelona. I won't need to go there if I can get a direct flight from Marseille to U.S. without going back to Paris. I think it is an hour shorter airplane ride from there then Paris and also less money. Is Provence far from Paris? I do not mine driving in traffic. If we stayed for a week in Provence would we be able to drive to Avignon, Marseille, LYon and Nice with in a reasonable amount of time?
Thanks for all the help

The drive from Marseille to Barcelona is at least 5 hours, not including any stops. The cost of renting a car in France and returning it in Spain will result in a large drop fee of potentially hundreds of dollars. If you don't want to fly home from Marseille or Nice, why not return to Paris to fly home? Have you been to Paris? It is not recommended to drive there, especially for someone who doesn't know their way around. I would either pick up a car on the outskirts of Paris or take to train to Provence (Avignon?) and pick up the car there. If you want to go to Burgundy first you could train to Dijon and pick up your car there. Driving in France is not inexpensive, between the high cost of fuel and the toll roads. Get the smallest car you can that will accommodate the passengers and luggage. Some of the towns in France have VERY narrow streets and parking spaces can be small. For a nice seaside town in Provence, you might consider Cassis.

I think it is 3 hours to Barcelona. Oh dear. No. Marseille to Barcelona El Prat airport driving is over 5 hours driving (plus traffic), €40 in tolls and probably about €60 in fuel. Its 322 miles. You'd be driving pretty quick to get there in 3 hours... 10 or more hours by train. In 3:17 you could take a train from Avignon direct to CDG airport with no changes, only stopping Valance, Lyon and Disneyland. I won't need to go there if I can get a direct flight from Marseille to U.S. without going back to Paris. I think it is an hour shorter airplane ride from there then Paris and also less money. It seems unlikely to be an hour shorter, but if that's what you found, go for it... Is Provence far from Paris? I do not mine driving in traffic. 2:40 by simple TGV train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Avignon TGV. Driving from Paris to Avignon in July? Good luck...
428 miles, 7 hours driving if you get a straight shot (unlikely)(especially unlikely in July). Plus €50 in tolls plus about €80 in fuel. Use the calendar provided by the French government Bison Futé Currently only the 2012 one is up but surely the 2013 one will arrive soon. If the day you drive is orange expect heavy traffic; if red expect many long delays. I don't drive when the forecast is red or black. If we stayed for a week in Provence would we be able to drive to Avignon, Marseille, LYon and Nice with in a reasonable amount of time? Of those places only Lyon is not in Provence. So yes. And Lyon is easily reachable in 90 minutes or less by train.

We've flown New York-Nice round trip, but I don't think there are any direct flights to the States from Marseille. Nice airport is less than two hours from Marseille by car.

Dorothea, IMHO, it's going to be very difficult in the time frame you have to drive from Paris, tour Provence including Avignon, Marseille, Lyon and Nice and then drive to Barcelona for a flight home. In addition to the tolls, cost of fuel and traffic issues in July that Nigel mentioned, you'll also have to consider the fact that renting a car in France and returning it in Spain will likely attract a HUGE extra charge! For transporting four adults with luggage, you'll probably have to rent a larger vehicle which will not be very fuel efficient (especially with the A/C running), and may not be able to easily navigate the narrow streets in some towns. I'm not sure if it's compulsory, but having an International Driver's Permit for each driver may be advisable. With such a short time in the south of France, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy of the France or Provence 2013 Guidebooks, as the books provide a lot of information on sightseeing, transportation, hotels, etc. With those you can work out a more "limited" and efficient way to tour as many destinations as possible in the time you have. It would be far quicker and more efficient to travel from Paris to Nice via TGV, and then rent a car for touring in that area. Nice makes a great "home base" and has some great Museums, a beautiful old town area, and interesting day trips to places like Monaco & Monte Carlo, Eze, Villefranche, etc. For the flight home, you could either return to Paris and CDG via TGV, or use a budget airline from Nice to one of the larger hub airports. A week is a very short time, so it's doubtful whether you'll be able to get to as many places as you want. Good luck with your planning!

If none of your party has been to Paris before, plan to stay more than two nights. Take the high speed train to Avignon, rent a car there. Pick a base in Provence and make day trips. Get the Rick Steves book and it will help determine what interests you. Use it for sights and restaurants. This is the simplest, most efficient way to get a taste of France in a short time. Trying to do more and accommodating everyone's wishes will be the hardest part of planning your trip.

Yes it has already become a nightmare. I will be going on a river cruise through the south of France for 2 weeks ending in Paris where i will meet my children and we will now stay for at least 3days. yes we have all been their before. My daughters friend has lived there for a number of years. My children can only go for 7 or 9 days and do not want to do the cruise. The question is wether to stay in one place for a week using as a home base or stay at 3 different places and where to fly out of. Last year I did a cruise in Amsterdam then drove along the East coast staying 3 nights in each city (Copenhagen, Sweden,Germany ect ) and that was fun and easy but I was driving my own car that I picked up from Volvo in Gothenburg with navigation then had shipped home. Thanks to all as this is helping me see I need to plan better. Even though the trip will be wonderful this has become a headache and I learned last year better to put together yourself rather then use a travel agent.
Dorothea

Looking at several airline search sites I could not find any "direct" flights between either Nice or Marseille and Washington (or New York). I assume you mean non-stop because "direct" is not the same thing in airline parlance.
Forget Barcelona, or rather do it some other time. Paris-Avignon-Marseille makes for compact routing with day trips to Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Montpellier, Orange or other pleasant attractions. Marseille airport has as many choices for trans-Atlantic flights as Nice, by the way. Comfortable departure times and a cautious amount of time to catch the second leg of the itinerary would matter as much to me as price. Well, almost as much.