Stop offs between Calais and Annecy/Grenoble

[OMGitsnotgood]

We are planning a visit to Annecy and Grenoble. We will arrive in Calais and would like to make some overnight stops on the way (Troyes, Dijon maybe?) Would appreciate other/better suggestions on that route. Then we'd like to take a different route back to take in different places. Number of stops / length of trip yet to be decided, all depends how many other places we'd like to visit. I am doing my own research but i know on some of our road trips we have stumbled across lovely places that you'd never have added in otherwise. Also there will be places that look lovely but not so great when you get there.
I'd also appreciate ideas for places to stop within an hour or so from Calais. We may take a late crossing to France or an early crossing back, so don't want to stay too far away but would like it to be somewhere nice rather than just functional. We've stayed in St Omer before which was lovely and would happily stay there again but also like to visit different places.
Thank you

Le Touquet and Boulogne sur Mer are probably the nicest stops right up north.
Monet’s house and garden in Giverny is well-worth a visit.
Fontainebleau is a lovely area. There’s a lot more to do besides the famous palace. www.fontainebleau-tourisme.com/en/welcome/
Semur en Auxois is a picture-postcard little place that not many people seem to know about. Very unspoilt. Noyers-sur-Serein is similar, and Beaune is also very beautiful.

Thank you @Fivemoreminutes1 .

Semur en Auxois, Noyers-sur-Serein and Beaune look fabulous and exactly what i was looking for, but probably never would have stumbled across, thank you.

Le Touquet and Boulogne sur Mer whilst lovely and not too far from Calais are probably taking us on a longer route back

We spent some time in and around Fontainbleau and agree it is lovely but think I’d prefer to do a more direct route back to Calais

Thanks again, several suggestions there we will take up i think

Reims is on the route and the Notre dame cathedral was spectacular

I second Beaune - it's gorgeous. Reims is quite nice too and convenient for Calais and Troyes is beautiful (though very well-touristed).

oh yes Reims a very good suggestion thank you. We won't be travelling in school holidays (well UK holidays at least), not sure if that will make a difference or not in the most touristy places?

Wissant is nice and near Calais. Épernay is a good stop ever as well. It's the home of the big champagne houses and lots seem to go there for champagne weekends.

thank you. Épernay is very definitely an option. Wissant looks good too, not quite on the route back but not too far away to be discounted. Thank you

Definitely stop in Troyes, it's beautiful.

Reims is ghastly, leave well alone.

Troyes, on the other hand, was beautiful. Thoroughly recommended.

What makes Reims 'ghastly'? Genuinely interested as it's somewhere my DH has suggested he would like to visit, so need to be able to explain why it's not worth it. Equally as valuable knowing where not to stop!
The cathedral does look worth a visit as suggested above?

It probably wasn't helped by the fact that there were roadworks everywhere when we visited, and the cathedral was being worked on with very noisy drills as well. But despite that, I still didn't feel that the town had much to offer.

Troyes on the other hand is absolutely gorgeous.

We've done both Beaune and Troyes as en route stops and would recommend both.

We did Troyes both ways last year and loved it for an overnight, we had an airbnb on the edge of the old town.

Following with interest as oddly DH and I are planning to this exact same
Thing for our holiday this year! I will check some of the places mentioned out

We do this journey when we go skiing. Most of our stop offs have already been mentioned but additionally we’ve stopped in Orleans and Arras.

On our way back from France, we usually stay in Montreuil sur Mer, a beautiful little walled town about an hour from Calais and not actually sur mer at all. You can do a lovely walk round the walls in about 40 minutes and there are lots of good places to eat. I thoroughly recommend Le Coq hotel.

You also mentioned Dijon. I love Dijon. Not as pretty as Troyes, but a lively University town with plenty of good bars and restaurants.

On the way back for an early start the following day St Riquier is amazing. Tiny village with enormous abbey with hotel attached.
Bigger and also interesting is Amiens.

But top tip- check opening hours if you’re planning on a supermarket sweep on the way home. They’re often closed or only open until midday on Sundays.

Googling all these and getting excited!

thank you all, some fabulous suggestions and now spoilt for choice!!

any tips for Annecy please? Where to stay/avoid/visit? (adults only, love walking, sightseeing, good food)

We stopped overnight on Chalons en Champagne (very near Epernay) on the way to Annecy and Beaune on the way home. Both really lovely and convenient for the autoroute.

Beaune is absolutely lovely with nice food and wine!