France Paris to Carcassonne
 

We (4 adults) are travelling in France during Oct 2010 from South Africa - I was thinking of flying to Paris and hire a car from there to drive to Carcassonne (we will be staying most of the time there at a friends house). I please need help with the following as a South African citizen.
Cheapest and best flight from ORTambo to Paris?
Chepest and best car hire from Paris to Carcassonne and around Carcassonne back to Paris?
Cost of a Visa?
Best place in SA to get my visa?
Any suggestions to stay/overnight between Paris and Carcassonne?
I am on a tight budget but cannot do the backpacking thing either.
Any help and suggestions will be great.
Thanks

Paris can be a pricey place to fly in to - did you know you can fly direct to Carcasonne from a few other European destinations with RyanAir - might be worth seeing if flights work out cheaper that way.

Of course if you want to spend time in Paris that probably over-complicates things...

First, I would look into flights to Toulouse. Second, even if you do fly into Paris, I wouldn't drive from there to Carcassone - I'd take the TGV to Toulouse and pick up a car there and drive. You wouldn't need to spend a night betwen Paris and Carassonne if you followed either of these plans. AutoEurope is a reliable car rental broker, and you should book the car in advance.

And, if you get your TGV tickets early, i.e., like 3 months out, you can save a lot of money. Look at www.voyages-sncf.com.

Good advice from those above. To answer your visa questions I would think the only reliable source of information would be the French Embassy in South Africa or one of the consulates.

Many thanks to all the replies!!!!