Since my husband is a teacher with a two week March break we have spent that time in Paris several years in a row. We have been very lucky with the weather with a range between cool and overcast to a year where we sat very comfortably at a sidewalk cafe and ate oysters and drank wine. I found a lined raincoat with a hood was perfect. At that time the bulbs should be blooming in the parks and some people have started putting plants on their window sills. I wish we were going this year.

I've been to Paris three different years in March (02,04, 06) and you really can get quite a variety. I've had really cold (below freezing) and really nice (mid 70s) - and one year had both of those extremes in the same week! One March there were lots of spring flowers, daffodils were already gone by and tulips were blooming. Another year there were just crocuses. But the grass has always been green and compared to New England it felt spring like. My photos of Paris were taken during those three trips plus some summer trips but you'll see a variety of foliage in the spring shots.

www.pbase.com/annforcier/paris

By the way, one of my favorite trips was in March 06 when we spent 6 days in Paris followed by 4 in Barcelona. That year Paris was sunny but very cold, and Barcelona with temps in the 70s was a really nice end to the trip. I know you were looking at Southern Spain, which has too much to cover in "half" a trip, but we felt we got a nice taste of Spain by our four days in Barcelona ( the following year we did the whole spring break in southern Spain). Easy Jet flies from Paris Orly to Barcelona.