Can you get from Paris to Brussels without taking the train or renting a car?
 

Earliest/first train from Paris will not get us to Brussels in time for departing international flight.

Hate to travel from Paris to Brussels the night before and miss my last night in Paris.

Anybody know of a bus or car service or some other mode of transporation that I could research?

The Thalys is probably the fastest, so if that doesn't work out for you, you will need to go on to Brussels sooner. There is a 'Eurolines' bus service but it's kind of like Greyhound (if you're from the US) and isn't direct or fast at all, and I don't even know if it goes to Brussels.

The railway line from Paris to Brussels is a high-speed line allowing trains to go at 300 km/hr (186 mph). If the first train is too late, then you are not going to do it any other way - unless you want to give up a night's sleep. Michelin suggest a car journey will take over three hours.

It would no doubt be much cheaper to fly from Paris to Brussels, if there even are such flights, than to hire a car.

Thanks for your input.

Since it looks like we'll be taking the Thalys from Paris to Brussels on Saturday evening, can anyone recommend a nice hotel in Brussels convenient to one of the train stations?

lots of hotels at the airport, which is a short train ride from Brussels.

otherwise the Midi station, Thalys depot is in a rather seedy area

you could take the shuttle train from Midi (zuid) station to Centrale station which is in the heart of Brussels.

All stations have trains to the airport every few minutes.

when booking Thalys keep in mind that the hard to get SMILYS fare though sold only on a round trip basis is actually cheaper than most one-way fares and you just throw away the return ticket.

But SMILYS must be booked long in advance and even then may not be available on the train you wish.

www.thalys.com