Hi M,

Check for airfare at www.whichbudget.com

Cheapest rates at www.eurostar.com are usually the one-day RT. Also try www.raileurope.com.

Train tickets from Paris to Cahors are at www.voyages-sncf.com

In the current travel market turmoil, you can't say anyone "never" does sales.

But Eurostar hardly ever does: their £59 returns to Paris, for example, are almost totally sold out for the next six weeks, and seem to stop completely on July 6. Stand at St Pancras at present and you'll see why: London's getting overrun with Continentals buying the city up while the pound's temporarily down the drain.

Easyjet, though (whose cheapest one-ways to Toulouse in August are about £27) are very unlikely to cut their prices any further, because that's not how they operate.

The likelihood is that flying to Toulouse will be cheaper. BUT things might change. Eurostar's chocker because London's a great springtime destination at present. It might not be as attractive in midsummer when the Continentals are all at their beaches and mountains, and Britons are avoiding the eurozone. Eurostar MIGHT be forced into a sale over the summer. But they won't go below £59 London-Paris, so flying - as long as you choose the right timing and book now - will most likely be cheaper.

Thanks Flanneruk for your thoughts. Our own enquiries were leading to the same conclusion, but it is good to get reinforcement.

Maybe also check the cost of flights to Brive from London City rather than the larger London airports. To our surprise we found they undercut cost of flights to Toulouse in mid summer and is just north of Cahors.