To be honest if you start early you could do it in a day. Possibly not on a Saturday. I have not measured it accuratley but it can't be more than 600 miles.

1 overnight would be enough. However the only site I have stayed at on the way down there would be at Lac Du Panthier not far from Beaune but that would be less than half way. There is another one I have used at Les Abrets a little to the East of Lyon called Le coin tranquille. But that would be an hour or so detour off the route. Both are very nice sites with plenty to do but if you are only doing a night then you will be paying for facilities that you will not get the benefit of.

Hope that helps.

hay ive driven round france for a number of years now, and never booked a camp site, they are everywhere in france... all u need to do is drive on the less major raods, the b-raods are littered with sites with brilliant signing pointing the way to the sites... head for the outskirts of the towns or cities and you cannot fail...

I'm afraid that I cannot agree with Hi de Hi on driving this distance in one day, particularly as you are a first timer. I would strongly recommend taking at least 2 days over your drive. The A6 and the A7 get incredibly full from Parisians heading south, and I would google 'Bison Fute' (Crafty Bison) which is a French governmental site showing alternative routes to those that get habitually blocked, especially around the motorway toll points.

You might benefit from http://www.michelin.fr to get a good routing from where you are leaving in Paris to your destination in Languedoc-Roussillon. Then decide how far you want to drive each day and contact the tourist office of the nearest big town (by email) as campsites are usually listed under accommodation (hebergement - campings).

Again I beg to differ with dietcola, again because you are a first timer and need to build in success into your trip rather than jsut being lucky. Camping is now very fashionable with the French, and has been a German favourite for many years as many campsites now accept camping cars. If you book in advance you will be able to enjoy your drive, knowing that you have a firm 'end point' to the day and knowing that you can go straight to a designated campsite rather than hope for the best as the sun sets.

You can then be sure that by reserving a plot and planning your journey, you will arrive in good time before the site closes, in daylight and to pitch camp and relax before going to sleep before continuing what is a long and often frustrating drive during holiday periods.

Leaving things to chance comes with experience, and I think that Smilee would benefit from having a first time experience where things go according to plan!! Leave spontaneity for another time, or perhaps when not travelling in the French school holidays - essentially all of July and August. The Parisians migrate en masse around the Bastille Day bank holiday (14 July) or at the end of July when many companies close down completely for a fortnight or so.

If you are travelling with children, many motorway service stations have activities for kids during the summer holidays, to give them - and you a break! Bison Fute should have the details, but they may not be shown until late Spring next year.

probably a bit late to help but we often drive from Calais to the Languedoc and we take one of 2 routes. the first goes round Paris and we stop at Orleans - there are plenty of reasonably priced hotels but it may be wise to book in advance, the other route we head to Reims where we overnight at the ibis then follow the motorway south, or sometimes the N road which is a lovely drive from Lyon along the river Rhone to Provence