Day trip to Paris from Stuttgart

Do you have dates in mind as the train schedules can vary by day of week? I took a preliminary look and there is an early morning TGV (7am) that would get you to Paris-East by 10ish. HOWEVER, the last "good" train route back left just before 6pm. In my mind that's a lot of travel for a very short day in Paris. Since you are going to be in Stuttgart for 4 days would you be comfortable spending the night in Paris and enjoying it then heading back the next day?

Alternately, depending on which city you are in when you are in Spain you might be able to catch a budget airline to Paris for likely less $ than the train from Stuttgart, especially since you would not have any luggage with you.

Why not? A few months ago I had a three-hour trip to see an exhibition.
Direct high-speed train. Comfortable and much quicker than flying for going city centre to city centre. Get the 6:54 and you're at the Gare de l'Est at 10:10. With a efficient metro connection you can be at the Eiffel Tower at 10:30. Take the return train of 18:54 and you're back in Stuttgart at 22:10. Dream come true.
Don't go up the tower, but use your time to stroll the Champs Elysées, have a lunch, and visit the Notre Dame.
Book your tickets at the French or the German railways. Prices don't differ much, but I find booking with the Germans easy and trustworthy (payment by credit card; emailed pdf). Advance booking comes with considerable discount if you don't mind a non-refundable ticket for a specific train.

Donna- We plan to travel to Paris either Sunday, May 21st or Monday, May 22nd, is one day better than the other? My husband will be working pretty much the entire time we are in Valencia, and during his time off, we plan to enjoy the sites there. We have thought about staying the night in Paris, however, his company will only pay for the hotel in Stuttgart, since that is where he is working, and we are trying to keep our out of pocket expenses as low as we can. I live in a fairly rural part of the US, so navigating cities and trains and buses and such is a pretty foreign concept to me. I appreciate ANY help you can offer, and the more specific the better! We also plan to explorer the Black Forrest area, and would like to see a couple of the castles around Stuttgart while we are there.

tonfromleiden- How far in advance would I need to book? There is a very unlikely possibility that we may have to head back home after our week in Valencia, so our plane tickets and hotel room for Germany had to be refundable, which doubled the airfare price. :( Would a week or so suffice? Or will that double the price, too?

Book as soon as your stay in Stuttgart is sure, not before. Reason for advance booking is primarily for the discount, not for the availability of seats. Even the most discounted tickets will be around € 110 return trip and you don't want them to be useless.
Good luck with your trip!

Agree with Tom - you will get a substantial discount for booking train tickets in advance, however these are non refundable fares.

I don't see why not. I once drove an hour just to see the General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park (well, not solely that but that was the main intention). My wife wasn't as enamoured by the idea as I was!

crazycat, you might check last-minute online hotel bargains in Paris. For one night, you could accept a cramped, cheap room. And it would add immensely to your visit. Your age and your finances are none of my business, but I wonder about "possibly last trip to Europe."

I suggest that you either buy or go to the library for our host's "Rick Steves' Paris". It is geared towards first time visitors. You will have to use the Metro to get around that day, and it explains how.

@ JC...Conceptually, what you did, I've done several times in Germany, such as spending 2 to 3 hrs on the train just to get to a historical site, such as in 1977 to Rüdesheim am Rhein to track down the Niederwald Denkmal, or on another trip beyond Dortmund-Reichsmark to track down the "Kaiser Wilhelm and Bismarck Denkmal."