paris day trip

ok, here's the plan,
me and 3 others are planning to go to paris for a day
were from mid england so we were thinking a train to london then to portsmouth, then eurostar to paris
does this sound like a good idea?
how much could we get done in this short amount of time?
and does anyone have any cheeper travel sugestions, baring in mind that none of us have cars?
thanks in advance, P

Portsmouth is nowhere near the Eurostar, did you mean to put that in? Where are you starting from?

I am sure you will find all info about Eurostar in the FAQ post at the top of the page.

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<hr>how much could we get done in this short amount of time?<hr></blockquote>
is your objective to 'do' as much as possible or to have an enjoyable trip?

If you're planning to travel to London and then transfer to Waterloo then take the Eurostar to Paris, you won't arrive that early. And if you are planning to get back to "mid England" the same day, you won't stay in Paris long either.

As Iain points out, you do know that Eurostar doesn't go from Portsmouth, don't you?

You can get eurostar returns quite cheaply (less than one way) but you have to stay more than one day. i think the day return tickets are quite expensive , but check their website. Very easy to go from london and probably the quickest way. But a day is nothing in Paris. Can you go even for the weekend?

there is no point in going for one day, if only because you can get better deals on the eurostar (which leaves from London or Ashford, but not Portsmouth) if you stay a saturday night there, so you may as well go for a weekend. It takes about 3 hours to get there, so if you're going to spend six hours on a train (not counting going back home as well), i should think you will only have time for lunch and maybe a museum before heading back.