Sarlat to Barcelona

You're probably right about the trains, but beats me. Your construction of driving times might be a bit off. It's less than three hundred miles if you use the toll roads that pass alongside Toulouse and Carcassonne. You won't need gas if you depart full and you'll have to top off before turning in the car. You'd have to get off the freeway to have a picnic unless you just used the tables in the rest plazas (which always have good expresso anyway). One sort of quick stop and 4.5 is a piece of cake. What I'd do is start chugging, stop to suck coffee, and then haul tail for Perpignan for lunch. The reason being a couple of good Basque restaurants. (History lesson omitted about why the Basque enclave exists.)

You also have the option, which I'm not sure is any better, of catching the 9:40 from Toulouse, changing in Narbonne. That's about a 2-1/2-hour drive, so you could maybe sleep a little later. Be sure to allot time to fill up your tank and return your car, though. Also, car return and train in Perpignan is a piece of cake. Not sure about Toulouse.

Adam's idea sounds pretty good. That's a really boring drive if you have to push straight through. Plus, the sun's being in your eyes as soon as you swing the corner at Toulouse is going to make it even meaner that early in the day. The only thing that'd mitigate against it would be if you had day outings planned to up around the border (Cadaques?) so that you could hop back across and dump the car one afternoon. All of this assumes that you're not eventually heading back to France ? Also, what's the chance of leaving Sarlat a day early late in the afternoon and spending the night in Carcassonne? The place is endurable, even interesting, if it's a walk, supper, and hit the sack. That'd put you within striking distance of Perpignan the next day without having to roll out the rooster.

Thanks, Ed and Adam. Adam: thanks for the suggestion of the 9:40 from Toulouse. We will probably stick with Perpignan as we won't have to change trains twice that way. Thanks also for the information about the car return in Perpignan. I was concerned about how long it might take to actually reach the train station from the Europe Car return. Is it actually at the railway station? If so, it seems like it would only take maybe 10 min. after dropping off the car to be in position to catch the train. Ed: thanks for the information about driving times. That's a good point about the sun's being in our eyes leaving Toulouse. Hadn't thought of that. Thought about Carcassonne earlier, but we rented a gite through Friday night in cenac and an apartment starting Saturday night in Barcelona. Not returning to France this trip. Would love to have lunch in perpignan if I could still get the 12:16 train. Any thoughts on this? Thanks again to both of you.

Probably not at the Basque places. They're up the hill close the cathedral, maybe a mile from the station. The time would be too tight even if you walked in the second they opened. One final idea on Carcassonne. There's a good old ETAP (now rebranded to Budget Ibis, probably) that's just a few yards from the Cite gateway. They're clean, but basic. I use them all the time on solo or guy trips - - Herself gets grumpy at more than one night a week. They run about fifty bucks per room out there in the sticks. Adam might disagree on the distance from the square to the station. If so, go with what he says. I only know where the tracks run and about where I think I've seen the station.

I should probably have qualified what I said a little. We found returning the car at the Perpignan train station very straightforward. Make sure, however, that you can return your car there. Also in a pinch you can return with an empty tank, but the car-hire places will generally nick you by refilling at a premium price. To avoid that, fill up first. For me changing trains in Narbonne would be trivial, but perhaps not if you have many bags and/or mobility issues. You would have 40 minutes to make the transfer (to the same train, I believe, that you would pick up in Perpignan). Ed's Carcassonne gambit is not a bad idea either.

Thanks again, Ed and Adam. I appreciate your help very much.