justineparis

Skip Loire Valley,, you will are planning on seeing Versailles so theres one grand Chateau, and the Louvre in Paris was a royal residence too,, make sure you visit Napoleons apartments in there, (Chandilers the size of cars!) so there is a taste of chateaus without the huge extra travel expense( to get to Loire Valley, then to get to each Chatuea, they are spread out, so most people do them by rental car or tour, both not super budget friendly, not your budget anyways)

Eurostar can be cheap if you book three months in advance.. 40 euros or so.. check as soon as you can, and do not go on Raileurope, stay on the Eurostar site.

I am doing Nice and Barcelona this year too , I am planning on 50 euros for train ride to Nice from Paris( I think you can get it cheaper ) and i am flying back from Barcelona to Paris on Easyjet, with luggage checked( cost was 11 euros I think)it cost me about 70 euros one way.

Food ,, as others said, buy groceries and take away.

And never, ever buy a coke at a cafe,, lol,, at a grocers you can get one for 1 euro or less, at a cafe they can be as much as 5 euros!!
You can get one of those long nice baguettes for one euro, some sliced deli meats and cheese for under 5 euros, so for 6 euro all three of you will have a huge sandwich!

dreamon

Curious as to why people think Loire Valley more expensive than visiting other parts of France. OP has six days to visit regional France. If she skips Loire Valley because it's expensive (despite a clear desire to see it) will somewhere else be cheaper?

In Paris, the Museum Pass can save money if visiting several museums and monuments. It includes (or used to) Versailles.

justineparis

Well the costs add up for that side trip. First, to get around the Loire Valley one really needs to rent a car, public transportation is sporadic and time consuming between each chateau, they are spread out. A short term rental adds a few hundred right there, then there is the gas,, you think gas is expensive at home, ha, wait till you see prices in Europe. Then there is the fee she will pay to see each Chateau, they average about 8-10 euros each. Then the cost to get to a base city , return train fare can run another 20 euros. So to see chateaus she is adding an extra 500 dollars to her plans, and my point is, she can see two fine examples of chateaus without the extra expense by staying in Paris. The train fare to Versailles is 6 euros return, admission is 18 -20 euros. The Louvre would just be 10 euros. So, thats under 40 euros for two fine examples of french chateaus.
I do realize those costs are not prohibitive for many travellers, but this OP has a very very tight budget. So just trying to help her figure out how to get a taste of something for a much cheaper deal.

The Museum pass only saves you money if you see 2-3 paid sites a day, in Paris one can spend less then that and still have a great time. I see one big paid site a day, then enjoy all the free stuff in the city. The view as you walk along the Seine, the churches, and there are some free museums, the Carnelet and the Shoah being two great examples.. plus just viewing sites like the Arc de Triomphe and wandering through the Luxembourg or Tuilleries parks.

I love the Loire Valley,, but if you have to edit, then put it off till late, assume this isn't the only trip you'll ever get to Europe.