I have been thinking about your return route. You want some 'great roads' (doesn't everyone) and to see something.
Here's a suggestion for you. Why not go to see some of the things that people miss? For instance, every man and his dog goes to see the D-day beaches. And why not, they are close to England and they are 'ours'. Similarly, they go to see the Somme and Picardy battlefields. Again, these are 'ours' and quite close to Calais.
You really aren't near either when you are in Toulouse and you need to get home (via great roads) via Zeebrugge. So what might be possible?
There is a great bit of France called the Vercors. Semi-wild and half mountainous. It's worth a look. It was also the scene of a great tragedy in June and July 1944, coinciding with the D-day landings. That a part of the massacre of the French resistance fighters was by renegade Russian and Ukrainian troops (fighting for the Germans) is interesting enough. I won't point to it on the map nor give you the links as it's easy enough to Google them up. Not least it's good practice for finding things out for yourself.
Then, work your way up to roughly the level of Colmar, which brings you to Alsace and slightly to the left (west) the Vosges, another great bit of France. Now Google up Le Ligne and Le Ligne memorial. The Vosges are full of 'great roads', so you'll not be disappointed. Again, the Vosges was the scene of heavy fighting in WW1 but it involved the French, not us. We were way to the north, much closer to the Channel.
From the Vosges it's near enough a north-north-east run up to Zeebrugge. The great thing is that this will take you (on great roads) past the WW1 killing fields of Verdun and into Luxembourg and the Ardennes, with all their 'great roads' and of course its links to the Battle of the Bulge.
You could do that route in the 'open' time available and still have time to see things.
What to do now? As much as I dislike it, Google maps is great for drawing lines. Put in just: Toulouse, Vercors, Colmar and Zeebrugge in that order and ask it to plot a route. You should end up with a very big semi-circle, roughly south through east to north. I say big, but huge is maybe a better word, as it's about a thousand miles. If you do it in stages, say Toulouse to Vercors first, you will also get the direct mileages between the four points, useful when you want to know how far each leg is. Take care as Google may present the distances in kilometres.
Now you'll have the broad direction to take to bring in what are only my suggestions. Now it's your turn. Google will probably have routed you down the motorways. Use your maps (see above) to see if you can plot something better, but still bring the points together. Pull the Google map route about, you can't break it, to get distances etc. But, don't be frightened to bring in some motorway if it means you can get somewhere sensibly and quicker. For instance, if you want to spend two days in the Vosges, you'll lose two days out of your 'open' time available. You'll have to make it up or miss your ferry home. In short, you definitely won't be able to see and do everything.
Another suggestion. I have routed you past Verdun, where you could spend two or three days quite happily. But maybe not if you want to see more of the Ardennes. If you have this dilemma, simply route yourself past the Verdun Ossuary. You could ride straight past it, pausing for just a minute (or an hour or a day) to see it. It has been there for nearly 100 years so it won't vanish in the next 30 or so years of your life. You can always come back.
This latter idea brings me back to what I am trying to do with the route I have suggested. You will pass through some fantastic bits of France, where you will really see a change in the scenery every day. You might also have seen some parts people miss out as they are not associated with what 'The English' want to see. Use it to get a feel for what each day brings and what each region offers. You can always come back.... The whole place won't vanish and you'll just have scratched the surface. Above all, you will by May have plotted your own routes, not simply played it safe by following another Tosser's roads. Yup, you'll make mistakes but nothing you will not be able to get out of by simply jumping on a motorway and / or or looking at a decent map, sat in a cafe for 10 minutes. Something you won't be able to do if you relied only on your PC which is now at home in Yorkshire.
Have a great time.
Richard
PS Everyone is different. I know I could ride the 1000 miles (longer if it's not the direct way) and see the stuff. But I don't mind setting off early, promptly and cracking the miles in down the D roads. But I won't do every rediculous little scenic lane either, at least not if I want to go 400 miles that day.
I am happy to stop for just 10 minutes for a coffee and grab a decent baguette in a town square for lunch. I don't stop to take pictures... Or press wild flowers, nor stop for a smoke every hour on the hour. Others want something different, starting to load their bike up at 10:30, riding out at 11 and finishing by four latest. That's fine, too.
I treat everyone, everywhere and everything as 'Biker friendly', not least as it stops me from worrying that they might not be, which saves time and unnecessary angst. I don't need a bloody great sign to tell me not to leave valuables on display (no shit, Shelock) but if there is one, I will probably think it's there for a definite purpose. Each to their own, enjoy your holiday as you want to.
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