Nice town south of Paris

Blois, Orleans, Chartres, Auxerre, Troyes comes in my mind.

So as i Understand it, you want to break the journey to the Loire Valley with a stop somewhere along the way. Makes sense. It's only 2 hrs driving time from CDG to Blois (central Loire) but including traffic, picking up car, etc, you wouldn't arrive there until 10.30-11pm.

Orleans is a little closer, at the beginning of the Loire Valley.

Auxerre and Troyes are in a completely different direction so I would ignore those suggestions.

Chartres is a good stop, although it's almost as far as Orleans. . Personally I would recommend Rambouillet which has a small but nice old center close to its Chateau.

Thanks for the tips!

I think we can leave the airport as earliest at 7.30 and getting away from Paris (which I really would like to do) I think we have to check in 9-9.30 if we should get a meal. Orleans seems to be to a bit to far I am afraid.
We just bought the plane ticket and haven´t given it a deeper thought but a good choise for our second night would be Bourges make a stop for some vine in favourite Poilly-Fumes district. How about Fontainbleu in that case? Or even a smaller place. Arriving late there will be no time for touristing and I guess it would be awkward just passing thorugh.
Rambouillet though seems like a good choice if we decide to go to Tours.

I think we can leave the airport as earliest at 7.30

I think you're being a little optimistic. to be in the car and drive away, i think 8 is more likely. This is assuming you have no checked luggage and no or minimal passport control.

Fontainebleau is a nice enough town too. I did spend the night there once for a weekend away from Paris. very similar to Rambouillet- a chateau with a historical town center attached. The Chateau Gardens are better though at F'bleau.

I'd be concerned with which day you arrive...the traffic through Paris on a Friday afternoon will make any trip take longer and not a good beginning to a good visit.

When I've been driving around France (multiple trips) I tried to avoid the (big) cities and enjoyed the (smaller) towns.
I have a mental list of places I'd go in the future (if I could) and one of them was Melun.
http://www.france-voyage.com/cities-towns/melun-31021.htm
If you drove there from CDG you'd avoid most of the A routes and using wwwlviamichelin.com I checked and it's about an hour's drive.
Local map: http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Maps/Map-Melun-77000-Seine_et_Marne-France?strLocid=31NDJ3b24xMGNORGd1TlRReE5EWT1jTWk0Mk5qQXlPUT09

Like Paris, there's an island in the middle of the Seine, I wasn't able to stop and explore but if you got there early enough you might be able to explore a bit of the old town...
The first site has listings for hotels, restos, etc...
Whatever you choose, hope it's a great trip

Cdg is a terrible place to get or return a car. Difficult locations in a confusing terminal, then horrible signage and roads.

Go into Paris ....where restaurants are open late...5 th or 6th
And cute old hotels

Then take easy frequent train from Gare Montparnasse to Chartres..
You can get Avis or hertz from station ...

But
See the amazing historic medieval town...and the perhaps best cathedral in France ...fabulousness glass..

Drive around Loire... Yawn....if you must

Then drop car back at Chartres ....

Easy in and out roads

Train back to Paris and fly away...

There are direct Air France buses from traction to cdg

Abientot

Ps extra time? Do more Paris...

#6, did you read the same info from the OP that I did? I didn't see anything where they said they wanted to see Paris.
I've flown into and driven out of CDG numerous times and even with an 11 hour flight behind me (plus all the time to get to the airport and the 3 hours waiting to check in and board) I could drive with confidence.
However, I do remember Easter weekend NOT wanting to spend my first couple days in Paris (I would spend the larger part of my visit near the Pyrenees) I got the car and drove to Chartres. (Yes, I agree, it's a wonderful place and visit when it fits in with other plans) But the drive there was not enjoyable...at all.
Which is why I suggested the town/area I did so they wouldn't have to drive the big A routes around/through Paris.

For others your suggestions may work.

Thanks once again for mostly really good advices. We will arrive on a tuesday 6.40 and we have now booked a car from 7.30. I would love to just for once take a train trip, but as far as I understood it would be more expensive and there are no direct trains from the airport as far as I unnderstand.
Since it will be a late arrival we now plan to skip the dinner and grab something from a petrol station and head for Sancerre which should be a two hour drive. Apart from road work it seems like an easy way down to the Loire.

Sfgirl: Avoiding larger towns is what we also think would be good since we have only three full days. We also thought about Melun.
This is a first trip and would just like to have a sample of the region and avoid all problems. Bourges and Sologne area is something we have dreamed to see for a long time. And then there are the castles, the food and the wine...

Why should we avoid the A-roads?

Paris is not an option this time.

I do think that the 'A ' roads are the ring roads around Paris, you use them to get into, or out of Paris and at times are very heavy with traffic and often it can be very slow going.