Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
Two suggestions for the OP:
1. If you are credit worthy, apply immediately for the Chase/IHG credit card, and earn the 60,000-point bonus after completing the minimum spend. Then monitor the FT/IHG forum to see when IHG's new "PointBreaks" list comes out. (Should be the last week of April.) If you are lucky, some London-area IHG properties will be on the list, and you can book PointBreaks nights at just 5,000 points/night. (The current list had just one such property, at Luton Airport, which isn't all that close to London. The next list might or might not be better.) If you can get all or most of your ten nights' accommodations for nothing, your $1,000 USD will go much farther.
2. Megabus offers London-Paris service. The trip can take 8 hours, but I've seen some fares in March for just 20 GBP. So consider taking Megabus if you want to go to Paris. But if your return air ticket is out of London, then you will have to pay for LON-PAR
roundtrip transportation.