Hi. I'm going to France on a very last minute, spur of the moment thing to meet a friend, so I've had no time to plan or research. I fly into Paris on saturday, will take a train to Strasbourg to meet my friend. We then take a train to Normandy on Sunday, will rent a car and spend several days in Normandy, and then i take a train back to Paris next Thursday to fly home. Question - would it be more economical to buy a train pass for this? If so, where and how and how much? <BR><BR>Second, i haven't been to Europe since they converted to the Euro. Can someone give me some practical advice as to how the Euro compares to the dollar, examples of what a Euro will buy you in France, etc. <BR><BR>I'd appreciate any advice you can give. I never done something like this before, so I'm pretty pumped. Thanks.

Not sure about the trains but the Euro is on about par with the dollar. NOTHING is cheap in France!!<BR>Sounds like fun, Bon voyage

Lucky you! I'm almost sure, even without doing the calculation, that point-to-point rail tickets would be less expensive than a pass for your trips. You can plug your itinerary into www.railsaver.com to find out for sure. <BR><BR>Bon voyage

No, I don't think a railpass would be cheaper, the cheapest France Railpass is $210 for 4 days of travel. YOu only have 3 days and those trips aren't that expensive, especially Normandy to Paris. I expect your total train tickets for all those trips might cost about $125-150. I'm guessing you know you will be completely backtracking on Sunday, from Strasbourg back to Paris and then to Normandy.<BR><BR>Since a euro is worth about US$1, you can't buy a lot with it-- a metro ticket, a bottle of mineral water in a store, a few postcards, a candy bar, a newspaper, they all cost about a euro, I guess. Just expect that things probably cost more than the last time you were there.

Wine was cheap. I bought some at the grocery store, and a $3 (3 euro) bottle was just as good as a $20 bottle back home.

Thank you for the replies so far. Very helpful. Here is there a good site for finding out which trains I take from CDG airport to Strasbourg? Thanks again.

You could do a search on airfrance.com to see if the plane might not be cheaper than the train to go from Paris to Strasbourg (it's a four hour ride at best, and you're doing a return trip in a short amount of time, so it might be trying. Most planes depart from Orly airport, but some do from CDG. Otherwise for train schedules, go to www.voyages-sncf.com. Please note that there are no direct trains from CDG to Stasbourg, you'll have to catch one from Gare de l'Est in central Paris.