Dave
give it up mate! Your are going to do the Picos, the Pyrenees, The alps and the Schwarzwald.....how long are you going for! All the routes mentioned above are worth it! Cevannes is a very undervalued part of France, the Corniche that Franco mentions is great as are most of the roads around there. You can read a book by Robert Louis Stevenson on the area as well if you like!
I wont trouble you with alpine routes but if you want some to go from Santander to France let me know.
By the way the Col de Bonnette is part of a nice route and its great to bag the highest alpine road. But you´ll be dissapointed at the top as it resembles some of the lovelier slag heaps in the Cynon valley.
Best starting point in France after talking to people are the Michelin local map series. If they are twisty with a green shadow..... I have some routes GPSed as well if thats a help.
