I like this option -- a reverse Schlieffen Plan -- hold in the West and work for a fast knockout of Russia in the East, then worry about France I think it would work.
Agreed, although I think a stalemate and negotiated peace in the West is the most likely result, since the Belgium fortress line supported by a fully mobilized Belgium field army would not necessarily be a walk over.
The other option, of course, is just a bit more luck in 1914. They got real close to Paris as it was. If the Germans are a little more coordinated and the French don't pull off 'the miracle', Paris falls. That might not necessarily knock France out, but it causes them some chaos and disrupts their transportation system.
Disagree. The German forces were already exhausted at Marne and at the end of their strained logistical lines. Expecting the Germans to win decisively at Marne, march on Paris, defeat the Paris fortresses and then successfully lay siege to Paris requires more than "a bit of luck". In pursuing the capture of Paris the Germans would need to abandon their hopes/ plans to destroy French field armies.
IMHO the race for Paris in 1914 was a close call and could very well have meant a French collapse. If this happens we have a situation superficially similar to OTL after 1940,
As outlined above, the capture of Paris was not a close call. It was not impossible, but would have required multiple Entente mistakes of a significant magnitude and a change of German priorities. France was far more resilient in 1914 than 1940 and no one expected the fall of Paris would end the French war. The German priority was the destruction of French armies in the field, not the capture of Paris.
OTL the Germans were hoping to entice the French into a battle of annihilation, but in reality, the best case scenario of the OTL Schleiffen Plan was the Germans winning the race to the sea. It is debatable if this alone would have been a war winner and it certainly would not have been contemplated as such prior to the war.