To save money we are flying to Brussels instead of Paris and plan to take the train to Paris. <BR>What is the best route? <BR>Is the airport near the train station? <BR>Thanks

There is a railway station at the airport. Take a train to Brussels Central or South and change to a train to Paris there. <BR>Check: <BR>http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en <BR>for schedules. If you enter "Brussel-N-Luchthaven" as departure station, you get all connections from Brussels airport to Paris Nord. <BR>Trip takes just over 2 hours. <BR>

This is such a setup; I can't resist. <BR> <BR>How ever on earth did you find this lower price to Brussels "to save money"? Are you going to have an aneurysm when I tell you that the fare from Brussels to Paris will cost you $1200 and negate all your "savings" and then some? <BR> <BR>The airport in Brussels is right in the center of the city. The two runways are short; they have to fit inside the Grand'Place. You can get great waffles there. But they cover with them with these disgusting little green globular vegetables that taste like bad cabbages. <BR> <BR>The main Brussels train station is in Waterloo, roughly 10 miles away, but you'll have to take a cab, and it will cost you $90. Don't get confused and let them take you to Waterzooi instead - - though that is a souper place. The best route to Paris is via Thessaloniki; that's why it costs so much. Everyone who works on the train only speaks Greek, which explains why they named the train Thalia. <BR> <BR>Okay, joke's over. Sorry to have fun at your expense, but that's part of the wacky culture here. <BR> <BR>The train is called Thalys and it has its own website www.thalys.com - - it's part of the new and rapidly growing international high speed infrastructure that links a lot of northwestern Europe. Several times a day (I think) it connects directly from Brussels Zaventem airport, which is about 15 miles outside the city center. Otherwise, the Thalys connects Brussels central to Paris 10 or 15 times a day. The connections from Zaventem into Brussels central are also a piece of cake. It all works quite seamlessly. It's comfortable and much faster than you could ever drive it - - about 1 hr 25 minutes to Paris Nord; about 20 minutes more if for some reason you would ever need to connect onward to Charles de Gaulle. <BR> <BR>So enjoy your trip - - and have some great "frites" for me. (The Belgians really do do these better than the French - - don't know why we call 'em "French fries"!) <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>me

About french fries: <BR>The story I´ve heard is that US soldiers located in South Belgium just after WWI (or WWII ?) discovered frites. As the local language there - in Wallonia - is French, they called it french fries.

Alors, merci, monsieur Bob. <BR> <BR>Meilleurs voeux, <BR> <BR>moi

The trip Brussels&lt;&gt;Paris via the Thalys is very pleasant; comfortable seating and there's a bar/snack car.

Careful. The Thalys leave out of the <BR>Brussels South station - ZUID in Dutch, MIDI in French - rather than Brussels Central. You can take a train from the airport to Brussels South for 2 to 3 <BR>US$. You get the train by going to the bottom floor of the airport. <BR> <BR>Bon Voyage. <BR>