Open jaw tickets to France depart Iteland

Margaret, you might look into Aer Lingus, the Irish airline. They can fly you from FLL to Paris-CDG via Dublin and home to FLL from Dublin. I can't see September 2014 yet but I see earlier dates for about $1,350 R/T. Aer Lingus will fly you from FLL to and from JFK on Jet Blue. Thus, to get from FLL to Paris-CDG, you will have two plane changes. Delta may be able to do this as well but they will fly you to Atlanta first. Air Canada can do it but they will fly you to Toronto first. US Airways can do it but they will fly you to Charlotte first.

What's the problem? There are many on-line agencies which will churn out combinations on this route. Orbitz showed at least 140, most of which you probably would reject. Cheapoair showed 14 pages of results. Hipmonk was more concise with a dozen easily-measured combos. From there you could go to airline sites themselves to compare convenience and price.
Maybe your difficulty lies in the word "reasonable"? As in "price"? The fares are what they are and the chance of finding anything beyond a hundred-dollar discount, while not zero, are slim.
For low-frills airlines from France to Ireland, look at www.skyscanner.com and www.whichbudget.com. There's lots of competition. Especially on Dublin's own Ryanair, examine the website closely for extra charges. The luggage allowance will be smaller than trans-Atlantic and very stricctly enforced.

You might get better prices (and less connections)if you use Miami International Airport instead of FLL

I picked a couple dates at random [9/9-9/18] then compared the 3 major airports in your area:

Orlando $1194 USAir via CLT,

Miami $1137 United via EWR,

Fort Lauderdale $1099 USAir via CLT.

The $1099 is pretty reasonable these days. Departing & returning Mon-Thurs is usually cheaper than Fri-Sun.

If you nail your dates (and airports) early enough in your planning, you can also snag a decently-priced British Airways flight to Dublin, via London. I just flew BA from Bordeaux to London for as cheap as one of the discount airlines like RyanAir, without the hassles AND I got a baggage allowance to boot. The key was having bought my ticket months ahead.

You are getting good advice here about your open jaw... just remember:

The price of airfare to Europe is as high as reported here (and that's for advance purchase fares!) - it's the new normal. Fare can (and do) go even higher, the closer to departure that you wait.

Be flexible about your departure airport. The prior suggestion to price out MCO and MIA, as well as FLL is bang on! Do the same for your arrival in France: depending on where you were hoping to go, also price out the other big international airports as well as CDG - like ORY, BOD, TLS, MRS, NCE and LYS.

Your itinerary will not be direct. All airlines now route through hubs and use code-shared partners.

All these points will affect your assessment of what is "reasonable", and if so, you will need to adjust your expectations accordingly.

Your best bet would be to look at Miami (MIA) going out, as American Airlines goes non-stop to Paris. It's a small price to pay to save a minimum 3-4 hours. All of the other airlines will fly you to a gateway U.S. city where you'll sit around awhile and change planes.

The good news is that September flights are substantially less than July flights.

It's hard to say if 2014 flights will be cheaper than 2013's expensive airfares. There may be some airfare sales after the first of the year, but the recent merger of American Airlines and U.S. Air may eventually result in some minor international airfare increases.

Anyway it goes, you have plenty of time to wait and watch the airfares in Q-1 and Q-2, 2014. Just be on the outlook for one day sales that may be mentioned at AJC.com and/or ClarkHoward.com.

I recently caught airfares dropping $300 for a one day sale out of select airports by keeping my eyes open.

Have you checked Norwegian Airlines? They now fly out of FLL and have good rates. I was finding flights to/from Paris ORY for under $900 in September. The most expensive flight/dates, was about $1130, including tax. Haven't flown them myself yet, but they might be worth a look.

Re: Norwegian Airlines. They are a budget airline. While this is fine for short flights, unlike budget carriers such as SAS and AirBerlin they operate their long-haul flights in full budget mode. There are some very bad reviews regarding this on SkyTrax, with very specific issues (which for a flight of under two hours might not matter too much), see also Trip Advisor. They also continue to have some major problems with their Dreamliners for their long-haul flights, including many heavily delayed flights while they hired a different plane.

Hello, just booked my flight to France and back from Dublin. Now I am looking at Paris to Dublin. Airlingus went up 20 Euro in three days ?? that one through me so I am looking daily. Will check out british airlines. I sw
aw a cheap one to Belfast but that would be a long drive plus a hassle renting car in pounds instead of Euro etc.... so now if you folks can give me advice on the time in France it will be much appreciated. I will start another question on this site. I am very excited about my trip. I full week in France before my trip to see family in Ireland
Tal soon
Pat