Touring by car in France
If you have limited time and an expansive itinerary. Position yourself with fast trains then hire a car but try and keep away from cities as parking is a real pain in most cities. Use the car for country sightseeing and visiting sites. I have just come back from a 30 day lease of a car through France, Nth Italy and Switzerland. Every time we tried to visit a city we lost a lot of time just finding parking and our GPS knew where the parking areas were, most were full. I would suggest you do the Champagne thing first then rent a car and tour more leisurely from a hub location. Watch out for the usual tricks when renting a car i.e check all damage and have the rep with you to mark the chart, be careful of dodgy CDW insurance read to see what you get etc. Also take a GPS if you can use one they take the stress out of any trip and you even get to stay married.
