My daughter and I are hoping to fly from Dublin to Paris the last weekend in March. Until she actually got to Ireland and started working, we weren't sure whether she'd be able to take the time off from her internship. So we're just now getting down to making some serious plans.

My visit to her in Ireland and the trip to Paris were not in our budget for this year! So I'm trying to do this as inexpensively as possible without sacrificing comfort. No crazy flights on tiny planes or hotel rooms without a private bath. Hostels are fine when my daughter is traveling with her friends. But, at 54, I need <i>some</i> creature comforts! I would, however, like to find a direct economy flight on a plane that's larger than a puddle jumper! And I don't expect (or want) luxury accomodations. Just something in a safe, convenient area that's clean and relatively quiet.

I've checked the web sites for Ryanair, Aer Lingus and Air France. Are there other airlines I should be checking?

We had tentatively planned to go on Thursday and come back on Sunday. Flights are cheaper on Thursday. But considerably more expensive on Sunday than Monday. I definitely don't want to leave early on Sunday because I'd like to take advantage of the free day at the Louvre (that Sunday will be April 1).

If we do fly back on Sunday, we'll be staying in Dublin (as opposed to going back to my daughter's flat in Galway). So we'll be paying for a room either way. But I'm guessing a B&amp;B in Dublin might be cheaper than a hotel in Paris.

My other concern is that I'll be flying out of Dublin to come home on Tuesday morning. Do I really want to fly back from Paris on Monday and then have the long flight home the next day?

As I was writing this I realized that now that I know that my daughter's internship is very flexible, we could plan this trip to Paris during the week rather than on the weekend. Obviously, we'd lose the free day at the Louvre. But that's a very small consideration if there are other benefits to being there during the week. Presumably we could fly cheaper both coming and going.

But would there be other advantages? Would things be less crowded during the week? And would we possibly have an easier time booking a hotel (I know we're probably leaving it pretty late as it is).

I've done some research on hotels and certainly intend to do more. But does anyone have any recommendations off-hand for a mother and daughter who won't be spending much time in their room?

I realize this has been rather rambling. Thanks to those who've managed to stay with me!

DON'T use Ryanair as they fly to a place called Beauvais which is about an hour by bus from Paris.

Apart from the airlines you mention no other (except Alitalia on a codeshare) fly direct Dublin to Paris

Thanks, alanRow. I noticed the airport on the Ryanair web site and meant to ask about it.

Air France looked to be much more expensive. So that pretty much leaves me with Aer Lingus. And that worries me because of the warnings I've read here about an eminent strike.

Are there others I can check that fly from Shannon to Paris?

AFAIK there are no direct flights to Paris - except for Beauvais with Pikeyair

I checked Aer Lingus rates, and you can fly Dublin-Paris for a base fare of &euro;10 each way if you are flexible on dates. The final price is a rather more hefty &euro;89 return.

This is what remains from a recent seat sale, and I suspect that there are very few seats left at those prices.

Aer Lingus and the unions are still at the sabre-rattling stage. In your position, I would take a chance on it -- but I'm an optimist!

If you decide to go ahead, you are allowed moderate-sized carry-ons, but if you want to take a larger piece it has to be paid for -- &euro;4 each way if you pre-book.

Thanks, Padraig! I put all sorts of different configurations in the Aer Lingus site and came up with three different ways that we can do it for 193 Euro (including taxes, etc.) for both of us. That seems pretty good to me. And, in each case, we'd have at least two full days and part of another in Paris. My major concern is that darn strike thing. As I think I may have mentioned on another thread, my brother and his girlfriend got burned a few years back when Aer Lingus went out on strike a couple of days before they were due to fly to Ireland.

To tell you the truth, at this point, my head is sort of spinning (not helped by the fact that I did our income tax this morning)! I keep wondering whether we're biting off more than we can chew by trying to stick this trip to Paris into my visit to Ireland. On the one hand, I've never been to the continent and may not get another chance for quite some time. On the other, I wonder if I'd be wiser to stay in Ireland and see more there. But without a car and with so many tours not operating yet in March...

As decisions go, this is certainly one of the more pleasant choices I've ever had to make! But still a bit frustrating right at the moment. With just over four weeks until I leave, I'd like to have a little better idea of what we're going to do so that I can make the necessary reservations. I guess what kind of has me spooked is that I've been following all the Fodor's threads about Paris. I had no idea so many people chose to go in March!

I wouyld fly wither Ryanair or Aer Lingus. Beauvais is a 1.5 hour bus ride from Paris but CDG can take a while as well. If its cheaper go with Ryanair and yes midweek is cheaper to Fly.

Thanks, Siobhan. I've decided to go midweek with Aer Lingus. I realized that going on the weekend makes no sense. I'd have to bring along all my luggage as I wouldn't get back to Galway before my flight out.

Hi CAPH52

I've been to Paris with Aer Ligus and Ryan Air both, and I would choose Ryan Air next time, I know they fly into beauvais, but you get through baggage collection very quickly, and the bus journey is just over an hour, it costs &euro;13 each way, and is very easy and convenient, the buses are there waiting in arrivals for you, and take you right into Port Mailot. Aer Lingus fly to CDG, which as you are probably aware is a horrible airport ,and to be honest it takes the same amount of time to get into Central Paris, as it would take from Beauvais. The Roissy bus from CDG is approx &euro;9 each way, and leaves you to the Opera. There is also an Air France bus from CDG leaves you to Port Maillot. A nice hotel we've stayed in quite a few times in located in the 7th Arr, called Hotel de France-Invalides. Its a lovely little tourist hotel, no frills, but clean and quiet and in a very safe area. Current rates for a twin/double room are &euro;98 with private facilities. I hope this helps a little, if there is any other info you need about Dublin B&amp;B's let me know and i can advise.

Lucie

Thank you so much, Lucie! I especially appreciate your info about Ryanair. I kept thinking about the bad things I'd read about CDG and wondered whether flying into Beauvais could really be any worse! So it's very good to have your perspective on it.

I was just waiting to hear back from my daughter before going ahead and booking those Aer Lingus tickets. Now I think I'll go back and take another look at the Ryanair web site!

Thanks for the hotel info too. That's going to be my next task! The place you mention sounds great. But, to tell you the truth, I was hoping to pay a little less. Am I being unrealistic? I would certainly feel much better booking a hotel that's been recommended to me rather than just choosing one from a list somewhere. I'll google the one you recommended. But do you know whether they have a web site?

Thanks again, Lucie!

Wow, we can go for just over half as much on Ryanair! And I'm assuming there's no threat that they'll go out on strike?

We'll have to change our times a bit. And it'll throw some of my other plans out of whack a bit. I'd been thinking we'd try to stay on Inis Mor Saturday night and into the day on Sunday. Then we'd go into Dublin early on Tuesday, spend the day and take an evening flight to Paris.

To get the good deal on Ryanair, we'll need to take a flight Monday morning. Which means we'll have to spend Sunday night in Dublin. Which, in turn, means not spending the day on Inis Mor. But we should be able to push it back to Friday night into Saturday. And, even with the cost of staying Sunday night in Dublin, we should come out ahead on what we're saving on the flights.

So, unless anyone has any other comments about Ryanair, I think we'll go for it!

Hi CAPH52

I'm glad to be of some help re: Ryan Air V Aer Lingus. The Ryan Air flights that go out early morning are just fine, i always prefer if at all possible to fly out early in the day, then you have the whole day ahead of you when you reach your destination.

Sorry the Hotel de France- Invalides is a bit out of your budget, but dont worry, there are loads of other hotels, which might suit you a bit better,maybe it would be best to decide which district you would like to stay in first then just type in Paris Hotels in the search box and you will come up with loads, that are personally recommended by fellow fodorites.
The web site for the Hotel i mentioned is.

www.hoteldefrance.com.

The rooms are exactly as they appear on their website.

Good Luck

Lucie



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Hi CAPH52

I'm glad to be of some help re: Ryan Air V Aer Lingus. The Ryan Air flights that go out early morning are just fine, i always prefer if at all possible to fly out early in the day, then you have the whole day ahead of you when you reach your destination.

Sorry the Hotel de France- Invalides is a bit out of your budget, but dont worry, there are loads of other hotels, which might suit you a bit better,maybe it would be best to decide which district you would like to stay in first then just type in Paris Hotels in the search box and you will come up with loads, that are personally recommended by fellow fodorites.
The web site for the Hotel i mentioned is.

http://www.hoteldefrance.com&quot;&gt;www.ho...eldefrance.com.

The rooms are exactly as they appear on their website.

Good Luck

Lucie

Apologies for the double post, my PC went a bit mental when I tried to post the first one, when I checked it wasnt there, so posted again, and low and behold, the first one appeared!!!

Thanks again, Lucie. I e-mailed another hotel this morning and it was full. Now I'm starting to get nervous!

I did start another thread on inexpensive Paris hotels and have gotten lots of responses. If I don't have any luck with some of the cheaper ones, I'm going to try the one you suggested. Thanks for the link!

Hiya CAPH52

Good luck with finding a hotel, let us know how it goes for you.

Lucie, I wanted to let you know that I just found out that we have reservations at the Hotel du Turenne! Such a relief to have the tickets and the reservations. Now I can relax and concentrate on deciding how we want to spend our three wonderful days there!

CAPH52

Thats great news, I'm delighte you have things sorted out, now you have flts and Hotel booked, you can concentrate on looking forward to your trip and doing your research about where you want to visit, I love the whole researching part of the trip!, my hubby &amp; children are more than happy to let me spend hours researching on the PC, then they just swoop in, get on the airplane and enjoy the trip

That's pretty much the way it works in our house too, Lucie!

In fact, a few days ago I e-mailed my daughter about the trip to Paris, her response was, &quot;Seriously, Mom, do whatever you want. I trust your travel judgement.&quot; She likes to be surprised when she gets there. I, on the other hand, like to have some idea of what to expect!

Besides, all the reading up and planning turns a trip of a few days into several weeks worth of pleasure!

Oh my god CAPH52, I think our Daughters were seperated at birth,,,my daughter says exactly the same thing to me!!

I'm told, whatever you want to do Mam, I'll fall in with that ( in other words , you make all the arrangements, and I'll just go for the trip!!)