Ebmcgriff- Although I prefer hotels for first time visits, I would consider Vrbo type situation except I believe our stays may be too short, 3 nights London, 4 nights Paris. We have used vrbo or homeaway several times in the U.S. always with lovely results. My 3 words of high school French are quite rusty and I have on occasion needed a translator for the Queen's English as well. Our accents and pronunciation are so terrible that I can't always understand them. : ) That can make for interesting challenges when unexpected circumstances arise like the time we locked all of the house keys inside the house on vacation. Mr. Bean would have been proud. It was a comedy of errors.

Any recommendations for which Citadines /Adagio properties to look at? I'm sure I'll be back with a post on that soon.

Anyone have any idea if an hour 20 is sufficient for the Dublin stopover? Do we need to go through a passport/ security check again or is it just finding the gate?

I don't know too much about London's situation - it seems that the city has taken steps to regulate short-stay rentals.

The situation in Paris is different, and changing rapidly. The majority of short-stay rentals are illegal, and the city is conducting investigations and fining owners - who are then forced to remove the apartment from the market. This could leave you with no place to stay, and the usual excuse will be "plumbing or construction problems". If you arrive before your unit is ready, you cannot drop your bags, but must carry everything with you until you can access the apartment. No fun if the weather's bad.
Most apartments are not large and many aren't that nice, unless you can afford more than you intend to spend.

The Citadines Saint-Germaine-des-Pres is right across the river from the Louvre, and has 2 room apartments available in September for under 400 EU. There is a fitness room, elevators, lounges with complimentary tea and coffee, laundry facilities, air-conditioning and a fully-equipped kitchen. It's a great central neighborhood, you can walk to most attractions from here, and transportation is convenient. Right around the corner is the Latin Quarter - a fascinating neighborhood. I booked a room for my in-laws here, and they were very happy. You'll probably appreciate the advice of the front desk staff, rather than being left to fend for yourself in an apartment.

Fuzzbucket- Love that I.d. Thanks for the specifics on Citadines. Do you happen to know if that area has restaurants, cafes, street or flea market near there? Easy access to metro(? If that's what it's called in Paris)
I had no idea about the apartment thing. Last time I looked there were tons of Paris apartments for a week stay. We're only there October 12- 17, so only 5 nights. Now I would be concerned about booking something like that even if we weren't leaning towards a hotel.

I think you are looking for airfares too soon for an October holiday. I just booked a week ago fares for SFO-CDG (NS) and return from LHR (NS) for $890 and considered SFO-LHR return OSL-SFO for $767 for late May to June. It would not surprise me if airfares are different in PHX but fares change almost everyday. There are many search engines but I use Kayak and look at multiple combinations of destinations and return options while selecting for number of stops, length of layover, airlines and times of departure and return. I do this on multiple days over weeks to find options that look good to me than check seating options before deciding on my flights. One can also set a price alert for possible future flights. If you are looking at specific open jaws it is easier as you are only looking for two possible destinations and return options.
In your case it would be PHX-LON and return PAR-PHX and vice versa.
I understand the concept of cost but your points are earned are probably worth between 1-2 cents a mile so your "free" cost of a flight to NYC is $250-$500 and you can always use it later. I suspect that you will be able to find one stop airfares on one ticket for less than $1000 RT if you watch the fares. The more airlines are involved, and more stops increase the chances of delay and loss of baggage and fatigue. Stopping for a night in NYC each way alleviates the risk of missing a flight but with the additional cost of transport to and from the airport in NYC and the loss of two days in Europe. IMHO you really don't have enough time to see either European destination city well in the time allotted so I would not waste time in NYC.
I have spent time in multiple Citadines in London, Paris, Barcelona and Tokyo and find them pretty reliable IKEA class accommodations that work reasonably for families on short visits. You have the options of two studios or a one bedroom with sofa bed or two bedrooms depending on the Citadines and the costs. Do join their frequent stay program for benefits like cheaper rates and sometimes breakfast. Longer stays are less expensive per night. We like having laundry machines on site and a kitchen as we usually do breakfast in and often do take out meals. Restaurants get a bit old and costly after awhile. There are three Citadines in London to consider, Trafalgar, Holborn and South Kensington. They all vary in price but Trafalgar tends to be the most expensive. Have stayed at the Trafalgar in a two bedroom which we found very dark. It was ok. We often stay at the Saint-Germaine Paris Citadines but it is the most expensive of all of the Paris branches except for new Louvre location. The Louvre location is more couples oriented and a bit upscale. We like the SG location as we tend to live off the Rue d'buci nearby. Do not like the Les Halles location, the Marais location tends to be much less expensive as are several others in Paris.

When we were looking at flights from NY, we stumbled across Norwegian airlines---much, much cheaper than any other airline. No idea about the AZ leg, but they fly to London and Paris direct and no up charge for not booking round trip.

Whoops. Just saw your other thread about Norwegian.

mjs- I appreciate your candid feedback and the input on Citadines locations.It is entirely possible that I am looking too early for fares, but I need to strike while the iron is hot. I have a tendency to put things off ( even fun things) when I start thinking about the cost etc. I use the playing with dates/ routes part to try to find the best deals as well and hopefully I will come up with a plan that works for us. I think I'll be able to add a day to our vacation. Still not enough time I know, but I'll take what I can get.

Cjar - yes, easy access to Metro. Yes, shops, restaurants, cafe are everywhere - the Latin Quarter is one of the liveliest areas in Paris, and you're very close to other interesting areas - only about a 15 - 20 minute stroll to the Marais, for example.

By "street markets", do you mean open-air food markets? There are 3 markets in the 6th arrondissement, operating two days a week or on Sunday.
Here is a list of all outdoor food markets in Paris, listed by arrondissement. Make sure to check the hours and days of operation:
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/paris-markets/

There are two flea markets, Marche aux Puces in the North of Paris - which operates mostly on Saturday and Sunday, and will take an entire day to see properly. The other is Vanves, located in the 14th arrondissement, open weekends from around 8 AM to 1 PM.

There were plenty of apartments available when you visited before. But that is no longer the case, as owners and agencies are playing cat-and-mouse with the Mayor's task force. Frankly, it's just not worth the trouble until the City finishes with their investigation, and presents an official list of legally-licensed apartments - which won't happen anytime soon. Until then, I'd stick to a hotel or apart'hotel.

You had better make your decision soon, since rooms will be booked up for October in both London and Paris, and you'll have to settle for something much more expensive.

FWIW, I've just arrived in Paris on the Eurostar and they have new rolling-stock since the last time I used them. Rather more luxurious in feel, deeper upholstery on the seats, higher headrests for privacy, and free wifi (except that its connection to the internet keeps dropping as it moves through various dead spots).

Patricklondon- Thanks for the update. I need to book our tickets soon I guess, but not sure with how to split the time between London/ Paris, leaning towards 3 nights London, 5 Paris.

Fuzzbucket- I started a thread asking about Paris Perfect because I wasn't sure if it was a corporate endeavor like Citidines and Adagio, but clearly from the responses it is a Paris/London version of VRBO so not legal. Can't wait to check out the flea market link and yes I meant open air food markets. Thank you.

Silly question- is there a pedestrian walkway to cross from Citidines to the Louvre or do you need to take public transport? We are hoping for nice weather and lots of walking. Overcast, cool days are ideal. We don't even mind some showers. Hopefully October will be perfect for us. I read temps average 40's - 60's in both London/ Paris at that time. Hopefully slightly less crowded too.

Take into consideration the jetlag/exhaustion at your arrival city. If you only allow 3 nights in London you will have a total usable time of less than 2.5 days. And the first day will probably be a washout for at least some of you.

On a multi-city trip I ALWAYS build in an 'extra' day/night in my first stop.

Plus London is truly enormous w/ the major sites spread over a much larger area. About 80% of Paris' main sites are w/i walking distance of each other.

Unless you are not terribly interested in London -- I'd do at least 5 nights there. When you get to Paris you will be totally acclimated and jet lag won't be an issue so you can hit the ground running.

>>Silly question- is there a pedestrian walkway to cross from Citidines to the Louvre or do you need to take public transport?<<

I'm not sure I understand the question -- the Citadines is barely 2 blocks from the Louvre (actually really just one long-ish block) -- I sure hope you aren't planning taking public transport for such short journeys. You will be walking a LOT in both cities.

For some reason we always get nailed with jetlag on the return trip and are pretty good on arrival. Excitement I think, but definitely something to consider. I'll need to do some more homework and see which city holds the most draw for all of us.

Cjar - the "pedestrian walkway" is called a "bridge" - head left along the river to Pont Neuf. Cross this bridge, turn left, and a 10 min stroll along the river will take you directly to the Louvre (enormous building, can't miss it). The staff will give you a map, but you should really download one (or find a guidebook) before you arrive, so you'll know where things are located. Same goes for London.

I would reverse the number of days between London and Paris - Paris is a walkable city, much more compact than London. The main attractions that most people want to see are located in a rectangle of about 2 x 4 miles, and are very easy to access by Metro or walking.

London is spread out all over the place, and so are its attractions. The public transportation system is very good here, but you can spend a lot of time getting to and fro - so I'd vote for a longer time in London.

If you don't speak French, you might consider flying into London, where the culture shock will be a little less daunting than in Paris.

fuzzbucket : >>the "pedestrian walkway" is called a "bridge" - head left along the river to Pont Neuf. Cross this bridge, turn left, and a 10 min stroll along the river will take you directly to the Louvre <<

I though we were talking about the Citadines Suites Louvre which is not across the river - no pont involved. It is on Rue de Richelieu very near the Louvre

>>I though<B><red>t</B></red> we were talking about . . . <<

Hee hee. Thanks for that bridge clarification. I just wasn't sure if Pont Neuf or any of the others allowed pedestrian traffic .

>>I just wasn't sure if Pont Neuf or any of the others allowed pedestrian traffic .<<

All bridges in central Paris have pedestrians (as do most bridges anywhere in Europe -- except some railway bridges and motorways - those sorts of things)