Most airlines I used to check have economical fares for trips that include the saturday/sunday night, so it should be possible to find good fares. That would extend the possibilities for travel. Try travel agents, but also check out the pages of airlines like Condor. There's also quite a bit to see in the immediate surroundings of Paris. Chartres, with the ruins of its rather famous cathedral. Reims, in the Champagne, with an equaly famous cathedral, since it was where french kings were crowned. You can link a visit there to a visit of the region of Champagne, complete with wine tasting. Compiegne, famous forest region. Quite beautifull. It is located to the north of Paris. While you were in Normandy, did you find the time to visit the Mont-Saint-Michel? It is well worth the trip. There are quite a lot of places to visit in France, but not all reachable just by train of bus. I won't repeat the recommendations already made. Brittany has a lot to offer, especially the Finistere region, in my opinion. There are quite a few megalithic sites, one of the best known being Carnac, as well as a lot of small towns with interesting churches. This is the only region in France were you will see the 'Calvaires', sculpted representations of Christ's life, most of the time topped with crosses bearing Christ and the two thieves crucified with him. The landscapes, especially some of the coasts, are quite spectacular. And you have the westernmost point of continental Europe there (Pointe du Raz). You could take a train to the center part of France, Auvergne. It has a lot to offer, but you might need a car to really tour it well. There's especially a lot of castles there, from different time periods. If you like medieval castles, then I can recommend the castle of Busseol. Its current owner, who bought the ruins and rebuilt most of the castle, is really knowledgeable regarding the middle-ages. It's one of my absolute favourite castles. Busseol is located relatively close to Clermond-Ferrand, which should be the easiest city to reach by train in this region. Also close by is the chain of the Puys, a chain of extinct (or dormant? that's the question :) ) volcanoes. The talles, the Puy de Dome, has a road leading all the way to the summit, but can alaso be hiked. Also relatively close is the Plateau de Gergovie, site of Vercingetorix's most famous victory against the roman invasors. There are some very interesting small towns like Saint-Nectaire, famous for its cheese as well as its church. Actually, this church counts as one of the 5 most important churchs in the Auvergne. Further south is the department of Cantal, where the famous cheese comes from. To the south, there's Albi and Toulouse, centers of the 2 crusades that never left european soil: the albigesian crusades (although some count them as one crusade), led against the Cathars. If you go to this region, try and visit the medieval city of Carcassonne, as well as some of the cathar castle ruins. Some are quite impressive, if only because of their location. That's all of the top of my head....

Hello, Jen! I'm currently studying in Lille, France, it's only an hour train ride from Paris. The city is very beautiful - I don't know if you've seen the French Film "Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis" but the film is about the North and Lille. It's a very popular movie, and Lille is considered a crossroads, since it's so close to London, Brussels and Paris. Btw, the Musee des Beaux Arts here is amazing, I believe it's the 2nd or 3rd largest museum in France after the Louvre (if you like art).

If you want to remain in France, I suggest going to Normandy. I stayed in Bayeux at the Family Home Hostel, which was actually pretty perfect. It was really cheap and we had breakfast there each morning (it was included with the stay). We took a tour (you can do full day tours or partial day tours) and it was fantastic. My friend and I are trying to return soon.

There is an overnight train every night to and from many places in the South of France, as well as Berlin, Milan, Venice, Rome, Barcelona, and Madrid. The sncf website or raileurope.co.uk often have chaep fares if you book in advance. It would be possible to get away Friday night and come back Monday morning in time for work, with Saturday night spent at your destination. Make sure you book couchette (bed) though, as if you sit up all night you won't be in any state to enojoy the place - or to go to work!

I have 2 suggestions. Firstly, check out versailles for a french history lesson. http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/ Its truly incredible. Go in good weather if you can so that you can spend some time exploring the massive gardens. Secondly, check out the town of Rouen. Its a fantastic little french town (actually where Joan of Arc was martred) and has one of the best traditional french food markets I've ever seen. The old tudor centre is very pretty and a great place to stop for a beer or a norman cider. You can get to Rouen by checking out sncf.com, and to get to Versailles its a short trip on the RER from central Paris. Have fun!

You should check sncf website, often they have very cheap train tickets but you have to be fast to get them. You can also get the card which gives you discount on train tickets during the weekend off to 40%. And from Paris you can get anywhere by train. Bretagne is very close, Strasbourg, Lyon in 2 hours, even Marseille in 4 hours

Cheap flights on Ryanair at http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/. But you have to book early.

Thanks guys, I've just returned from two days in Normandy and it was amazing and has completely sold me on the idea of spending a few weekends outside of Paris (maybe every second or third if I can afford it!). That dune sounds amazing Lisa- I think I may have to check it out next!

Hi Jen, check out Ryanair.com for cheap flights, but also look into getting a Eurorail pass. I'm living in Austria right now and our train station is having this sale on tickets from Austria to other countries. Here they are called SparSchiene tickets, maybe they have something similar in Paris. It's definitely worth looking into. I went last weekend to Prague for 19 euros each way on the train and each of the SparSchiene ticket trains are direct trains! You will be amazed how far you will be able to go and still get back for Sunday evening. I'm going to Barcelona the beginning of November! Also, there is also the option of renting a car for the weekend and taking a drive somewhere. I know I haven't really given you places to go, but maybe my suggestions on how to get there have been helpful. Good luck in Paris and happy travels!

London is definitely an easy journey, but another option within France is heading to Normandy. My friend and I stayed in the Family Home Hostel in Bayeux. This place was fantastic and really cheap. Bayeux was a great little town and my friend and I loved exploring it. If you want to go on a tour of the area (for the D-Day tours), there are plenty of them in the area which are easy to book. It is very easy to take a train from Paris to Bayeux (my friend and I actually took the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, but I've had friends take the train from Paris).

Definitely head to Brussels for one weekend. When I lived in Belgium the weekend trips to Paris were always great fun, so it'd be the same the other way around.

Check the Thalys website (http://www.thalys.com) for fantastic sales on train fares to Brussels or Amsterdam. We found tickets from Paris to Amsterdam for 25 Euros one-way. And Amsterdam was a wonderful city to visit!

Easyjet will give you nice options on airfares, the only thing is that you have to take the ticket in advance to have interesting rates. For cheap hotels on the areas, you might want to check on liligo.fr, they have great rates all around. It's also a good comparative website for all travels matter, I do not travel anymore without checking on them. Hope this helps a bit...Good luck in Paris...

Hi Jen, I lived in Strasbourg for a year and it's worth checking out, particularly now since the TGV gets you there in about 2 hours. You'll get a touch of Germany there or you could take a bus trip into Germany from there (which would take you 10 minutes). There are great bars around the town - I worked at the Irish Times! The cathedral is quite beautiful with its astronomical clock. And in winter having a soupe a l'oignon (onion soup with cheese) in a winstube (traditional restaurant) is delicious! At Christmas time the markets are great too as is the mulled wine served there. Now this may be a longer trip but I'd also recommend training it to Bordeaux (4-5 hrs) where you can have a day trip out in the vineyards. Also many people don't know about it, but nearby is the Dune de Pyla - which is actually the biggest sand dune in Europe! It has swallowed a whole hotel and is encroaching on the nearby forest. If you bring a cardboard box or something to slide down the dunes on it's a lot more fun! I'd also recommend spending a lot of time exploring Paris first. It's a beautiful city and everytime I go there I discover something new. My favourite place last time was the mosque in the 5th arrondissement where you can get sweet mint tea and honey-flavoured pastries. Little sparrows fly around and try to steal some of the crumbs from your plate! Amuses-toi bien! Lisa

Hi Jen C, You might want to look at this site: http://seat61.com/ Good journeys!

If I may tell you the truth, go visit a travel agent. Believe it or not, they will get you the best prices on flights and or trips. You might think it's cheaper to get it all over the internet, but trust me, it's not. Plus, the travel agent knows of things to do, that you would never even think about. have fun