Alternative route to South of France - recommendations!

[Fiorione]

We're driving down in June, ending up just inland of St Tropez and would prefer to avoid Lyons. Happy to drive on autoroutes in the north, but would probably prefer to go as far as Dijon, then go onto smaller roads.

Does anyone have any must-sees/eats/drinks/places to stay etc that we can take in?

We're travelling with DC, no particular hurry, happy to mix a couple of nights camping with Airbnbs etc.

Also - a couple of the DC would love to see a bit of Paris. Is it at all feasible to do a whistle stop tour of a few sights (as in, one or two main ones) in terms of driving in and out and staying maybe one night on the way down? We've considered it before but bottled it, as neither me nor DH like driving in busy unknown cities much tbh, and the drive is long enough as it is.

Any thoughts gratefully received!

You could go around Lyon and into the mountains to lake an annecy?

Would not recommend driving in Paris, it’s a nightmare .

If you fancy a bit of Paris stay on the periferique E15 you can find a hotel near the road and by a metro stop, easy to do a few bits of Paris.

Take the train if you want a couple of city/town stays. Check out Man in Seat 61 for routes and prices.