Spot to stop between Frankfort and Paris

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, a spot along the rail route is preferred with 1 night.

8:00 am or so

I was hoping to but shortly after we arrived on our flight. If it is not an option, we can consider other itineraries. Are you recommending an alternative? GIve me your thoughts.

Kent, these ideas look great. I am completely inexperienced in France. My father and brother will be with me and I would like to start off with a smaller community before we got to Paris and if we need to spend 2 days somewhere I think that is possible.

We're headed to Cinque Terre after Paris, any ideas for southern france on the way there?

Yeah, it's all relative huh? We're a bunch of introverts so as long as the city isn't overwhelming or "big city feel" it's ok. I like the Reims idea a lot. That would be a good warmup

Yep, I'm thinking Reims. Most people can do a champagne cellar and the Reims Cathedral in half a day, that would be the first half of day 2, and you can be in Paris in time to comfortably check into your Paris hotel. Would be a good warmup for the Big City of Lights!The same rail schedule website link will help you look at travel times by train from Paris to the CT via southern France. For many travelers going from Paris to the CT area of Italy, southern France consists of basically two areas to choose from, Provence and Riviera, two very different areas from each other. You could do both Provence and Riviera if you had enough time. If you want to choose one, read up on each, Rick's book Provence & Riviera 2009 tells you what you need to know to compare Provence to Riviera; another book choice is Rick's France 2009, which covers all of your destinations in France: Paris, Reims, Provence, and Riviera.

I'll bet you'd like Colmar, a pretty, friendly old town in Alsace, more or less enroute. Alsace is the "german" part of France, might be a good introduction for you. Read about it in a few guidebooks and see if it's for you.