Two days with a rental car

On sept 1st I will arrive in Lille, rent a car, and will drop off in Paris on the morning of the 3rd. I have tentative plans to drive to Colmar and spend the night before moving on to Paris. My question to those familiar with Europe is should I drive through Belgium, Lux, Strasbourg, or through northern France, or forget about Colmar all together and take another route, spending the night elsewhere?

I want to experience rural, scenic Europe before spending 3 nights in Paris.

Thanks

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Here%26#39;s my opinion, FWIW...

The north east of France is perhaps the least attractive part from the point of view of both scenery and interesting towns and villages along the way. Your route, if done all in France, doesn%26#39;t really get exciting until you get past Metz, at least three quarters of the way to Colmar.

If you want to stick to Colmar then I think Belgium and Luxembourg would be the way to go, which adds to the distance and driving time.

My suggestion would be that you consider instead driving to Normandy, possibly spending your first night in Rouen or in Honfleur on the coast.

You could then drive a bit farther into Normandy on the 2nd, either along the coast, in which case you could visit some of the invasion beaches, or inland which would give you more rural scenery and pleasanrt villages..

If you doubled back towards Chartres you could spend your second night there, visit the cathedral, and drop your car off in Paris on the 3rd.

I think your total driving distance would probably be less than Lille-Colmar-Paris...