OK
Now let's look at it again.
(1) It's good that you are slimming down your plans. There is lots to see and do in France but the attractions do not go away, so they will be there next year and the next decade.
(2) Find yourself a base and think about what your wife wants. If she (perched on the back) gets a strop on, you are dead meat and your holiday ruined. As you are crossing from Calais I would suggest somewhere around Dijon (half way between Calais and Marseille) or better still further south at, say, Dignes les Baines.
Find yourself a reasonable sized town as a base. That's why I suggest Dignes. Why? You want something to do when you are not on your bike. Big French towns (like the UK) have everything you will need.
I can give you a turn by turn route, all the way to Digne and back, along great roads (and / or with motorway escapes, if you have a problem) that will do everything you may want in a week and / or plus a few days. It will not kill you / your wife but give you a good taste of what goes on, what France looks like and has to offer. Not least it will give you an idea how far places are apart.
This last point is important. 350 miles on a motorway at an average speed of 60 (reality is often closer to 50) will take 5.8 hours. If you want to leave at 10am and stop for coffee, lunch and afternoon tea, it will take you most of the day into the mid-afternoon. Along D roads (the equivalent of our B roads) you will be lucky to average 40 (probably closer to 30). That may take you 11 hours, so leaving at 10 and stopping to enjoy the scenery every 10 minutes will not work.
If you run short of time, get on a motorway or main highway.... There is no shame in it. Knock off 50 miles in an hour (or less) or bugger around for more than two hours, lost in St Ulf de Lost on a hot afternoon or when it is lashing down. The choice is yours.
As you roll along the French motorway at an easy 80mph you will notice one thing. You are passing loads of trucks. Pull in for fuel or a tea break and the chances are you will see the same trucks steaming past you, or you will catch up with them again. Why? They are not stopping, just grinding out the miles at a steady 50 mph. When you are stopped you are not moving forward, it decimates your true average speed. The same simple mathematical fact gets amplified on smaller D roads, where your real life average speed is very much lower.
(3) Ferry ticket.
You know that you have to be back in Jockland by a certain time and on a certain day. You know that it will take one day from Dover to home. Book yourself a ticket that gives you a boat crossing to match the end target. Give yourself a bit of slack in the timing. That gives you the certainty you need. You can buy flexi-tickets, so it is no great drama coming home on an earlier boat.
(4) Travel insurance
BUY IT! There is lots of choice out there. I use the AA's. Another popular choice is the Post Office's policy. Just check
very carefully
that the policy includes you and your wife and that it includes riding a large capacity (cc's) motorcycle. If you plan on more trips before next year, buy an annual policy. If you plan just to do two weeks away, buy a 21 day policy, say, to give yourself a bit of flexibility. It could well be the best few pounds you will ever spend..... If in doubt look for two threads on UKGSer. One is very sad (through a simple mistake) and the other could have been a horrible bloody mess (the words are apt) had the fellow not been very lucky.
Similarly make sure you have good European breakdown / recovery insurance for your bike. Again, it will be a great relief if you have a problem a long way from home.
(5) Don't worry about everything. Just do a bit of sensible planning (get the maps) and take a bit of sensible care. Yes, it is different across the water (that is what makes it more interesting than home) but it is 100% civilised all the way from northern Sweden to the tip of Italy or Spain. France is a nuclear power and sits as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. There is a simple reason for that.... France is not darkest Senegal.
Have a read through some of the threads in the Travel section / the trip reports. You will see that loads of people have asked the same questions (for very good reasons) and had the same concerns. Then see that, more often than not, they had a great time with no great dramas.
If you have any questions, shove them up on the board. There is a regular bunch of bods who can tell you all and anything about France. 99% of what they say is right.... The missing 1%? That's the really fun bit
couple of more routes to complete back home the 25th july.done france e few times never had bother with speed cameras,this now seems to have changed enjoy the trip
onyack
here is the link 
im off to France ad Belgium in a couple of weeks using his routes.
