I've just read PeggyL's question and noted Alan Rowes reply telling her that to fly only one leg you must fly the outbound one or the return flight is automatically cancelled.
My question is this Alan: If Air Canada are quoting $355 (eachway) Vancouver - Paris, Paris-Vancouver, does this mean the fare will be the same if I want to START in PARIS and fly to VANCOUVER first?
I donot intend flying the return leg from Vancouver, but from Edmonton, back to Paris (which will cost me another $400 - and in that instance I will not be using the return flight either).
Anybody know?

If you don't use the return leg you don't get a refund - the flights you plan will cost you $800 each way if you buy 2x round trips. And no, fares are not necessarily the same in both directions.

You should book a multi-city itinerary Paris - Vancouver, Edmonton - Paris.

Thanks J62, I will now compare the fares with those my Travel Agent is quoting.
I was even toying with the idea of just booking the Europe-Canada return and taking a chance on bagging a cheap flight between Vancouver and Edmonton. I've heard it said that catching a plane in the US or Canada is like taking the bus - easily done??? Especially if I give ourselves 2-3days grace on departure dates - Or should I forget doing it like this?

<i>My question is this Alan: If Air Canada are quoting $355 (eachway) Vancouver - Paris, Paris-Vancouver, does this mean the fare will be the same if I want to START in PARIS and fly to VANCOUVER first?</i>

Absolutely not. The fare is determined by the place (country) of origin, and it is very common for round-trip or one-way fares between 2 cities to be very different depending on whether you start in city A or city B.

For example, I recently purchased a walk-up fare from Nairobi to London; the fare was $1,990 plus tax. If I had bought a London-to-Nairobi flight (same airline, same seat and booking class), the fare would have been $4,850 -- more than a 250% difference!

"I've heard it said that catching a plane in the US or Canada is like taking the bus - easily done??? Especially if I give ourselves 2-3days grace on departure dates - Or should I forget doing it like this?"

I think you heard incorrectly. There are a few routes that essentially serve as an hourly shuttle such as DC - NYC - BOSTON, or SF to LA. If you have a ticket on a 1pm flight and show up early you can hop on the 12 noon flight. Those routes are rare however. Regardless of the route you will always pay a premium for last minute purchase. Sometimes on those busy routes I list airlines will guarantee a low same day fare, but that would be an exception rather than the rule for essentially all routes in North America.

Air Canada website shows that all flights Paris to Vancouver or Edmonton go through Toronto or Montreal. If you find a great fare you could book Paris-Toronto return, then an open jaw/multi city Toronto-Vancouver, Edmonton-Toronto, or even just one ways for those legs.

If it's all on AC then you could then ask AC to link the 2 tickets so you are protected in case of delays on the 1st leg. I really would not expect that to result in a cheaper fare than a straight multi-city itin I described above.

How about open jaw air Paris-Vancouver and Edmonton-Paris with a rental car for a trip through the spectacular Canadian Rockies for the middle segment? Not necessarily cheaper than airfare, but a nice way to spend two days of a Candian holiday if you have the time and a companion to trade driving duties with.

Great suggestions and tips from all of you to a first time "flying to Canada" couple.
Kayd - I have heard the term 'Open Jaw' ticket mentioned often but it is a term we don't use here in South Africa so I am going to have to refer this one to the Travel Agent.
This is basically the "loose" plan of our trip:

Fly to Frankfurt (because our national carrier does not go to Paris anylonger) and take train to Paris (done this before).

Fly to Vancouver to connect with Alaskan cruise OR fly to Edmonton and pick up motorhome and join other friends on a two week/ maybe longer, trip around Banff and Jasper parks.
Then fly to Vancouver & cruise.

Fly back to Paris - train to Frankfurt and flight home.

Now, incase you are wondering why we don't fly direct to London which South African Airways does, then Eurostar it to Paris to catch the end of the Tour de France, it's because if we want to set one toe into UK we have to get visas. Already we have to get Schengen Visas, Canadian Visas, American Visa. It's all hellish expensive.

I need all the help I can get with this 5 week holiday - Thanks all!

Not sure about the fare difference but here is an option:

Fly Cathay Pacific from JNB to HKG, connect to Vancouver. Rent a motor home in Vancouver and head east to Edmonton area. Do your cruising around and the either return the motor home to Vancouver or drop it off in Edmonton and grab the train back to Vancouver and catch your flight back home on Cathay through HKG.

Just an option... Have a great trip!