Paris/Loire Valley

Kerry I am not experienced with driving and car rentals in Europe , but one thing I do know is that picking up a car in one country and dropping it in a another is expensive, extra drop charge, I would meet daughter in Berlin, fly ( look at Air Berliner or Easyjet, or maybe even Tuifly)to Paris , pick up car then do driving and drop it back at CDG.

This is not a very easy itinerary. There will probably be a hefty drop-off fee if you rent a car in Germany and leave it in France. Maybe cheaper to turn in your car at the border and rent another one, or continue by train to Paris and rent another one. Tours-Toulouse is 6 or 7 hours by car. I'm not sure it is worth it to go to Carcassonne after that but if you do a train will get you to Paris in about 5 or 6 hours. There is no decent night-train option. Could you arrange to fly home from Toulouse? The drive to Paris is quite long and I wonder if you might do better flying. Faced with so much travel in 7 days I would probably trim my plans a little. You are not going to have much time on the ground. But good luck!

Thanks for your responses. You're right about cross border charges. 3 years ago we rented a car in Switzerland to Austria through Germany to Amsterdam. The extra charges were big. Plus They tried to nick me for $300 for the tiniest scratch. I'd like to see Carcassone and Pont du Gard, but you're probably right about cramming in too much. But it might be my last trip. Ugh How do I find train schedules in France?

I've found that bahn.de (German website) provides the best info for French trains in general. AutoFrance.net was great for leasing a car, but don't about its short-term rental. You'll have changes between Amboise and Toulouse, one change between Toulouse and Paris. I'm not sure Carcassone fits for your timeframe. Happy travels.