Paris planning

Hmm.. I thought i would create a small blog on planning your trip to Paris from Brussels. Also this would give you an idea of what might be the cost you would incur per person if you plan to visit Paris and places in Paris.
I definitely concur with you that there are innumerable websites and tour packages which could be cheaper than this. But if you wanna check out, you are most welcome to view this blog.

Stay:
Hotels... Well depends on personal choice. In any city city you have a 5* to 1*hotel. I do not want to blog on this.

Travel:
There are as usual 3 popular means of reaching Paris from Brussels - air, train & bus.
According to me, only two of them are budgetary means - train and bus.

Train travel requires advance booking of atleast 15-45 days to get one way price of 25-29Euros (as on 24th Feb 2009) one way per person from Brussels. This can be booked in such a way that you have separate tickets for each way onward and return. This kinda tickets are called smoove tickets beneficial for one way journeys. For more info pls check www.b-rail.be

Bus can be booked atleast a week or two so indvance (in case of peak tourist season). Otherwise even 3-4days should be enough. Per person bus fare for return journey Bru-Paris could be between 44-50 Euros(as on 24th Feb 2009). If you get lesser than this, you are lucky :)
For more info please check in www.eurolines.be

Paris city travel:
Now comes in and around Paris. How to go about in Paris.
Like any other European city, Paris too has bus and metro for smoother commutation.
Unlike Brussels, the tickets on bus or in counters cost 1.6euro per person per ride. I guess the ticket is valid for two hours(depending on zones that you cross in your first travel). Same tickets are applicable to metro also. Believe me there are so many metro zones in Paris making it highly difficult to understand and make best use of the bought tickets.
I would prefer going around in Paris by bus though it is time consuming as I can get a ride along the city streets and I get to see the city's shopping malls(As usual we ladies are fond of shopping untill our hubby's purses are empty ;) )

For more info on paris bus and metro routes and time tables pls check
http://map.metro-passes.com/map_bus.htm
http://map.metro-passes.com/map_paris.htm

Entrance fee:
Next important info is on the entrance fee.
PS: Entrance fee in euro per person

Eiffel tower
children under 3yrs ascend & descend free.

Elevator	Above 11 yrs	3-11yrs
Upto 1st floor	4.8	2.5
Upto 2nd floor	7.8	4.3
Upto 3rd floor	10.7 or 12 (I forgot)	6.5
	Under 25	25 and Above
Stairs	3.10	4.0

Museé du Louvre: 9
Notre Dame special entry fee: 8 (There is free entry as well)

Next time I visit any other place in Paris, i will surely edit my blog for their fares.
Happy journey and enjoy Paris!!

Disclaimer: No intentions of promoting any business or defaming any said sources above. This is purely an experience that I would like to share with our friends who are curious to know about our travel just in case they wanna book.