To Paris on the cheap: a Megabus journey for (just over) a pound Megabus is owned by Stagecoach, run by Sir Brian Souter, one of Britain's most colourful entrepreneurs. As a child he was almost expelled from school for "poor performance," but he went on to flourish mightily, funding his way through university and beyond by working as a humble bus conductor before buying two second-hand buses of his own in 1980. Today, Stagecoach turns over £2 billion, so you really do have to take notice when this man promises that Megabus will deliver "a long-overdue shake-up to the over-priced European coach travel market." So here I was on my way to Paris, sitting on a coach boasting "free Wi-Fi and toilets" - and conditions weren't bad at all. Think of a fractionally-reclining airline seat and add a bit more padding with a slightly broader arm-rest and you have the idea. My bag was at my feet but most were stashed in the hold. The toilet was clean and considerably bigger than the flying equivalent. Getting out of London was inevitably stop-startish, but once we hit the Dover road it felt perfectly comfortable and hardly noisier than an aircraft. Mind you, I'd stupidly chosen a seat upfront against the bulwark, so couldn't stretch my legs, and I'd been warned that teething troubles meant that Wi-Fi would cut out as soon as we hit France. It was, in fact, slightly intermittent even in Britain, but no one seemed to care. The people on board were clearly more than happy to undergo almost any stress or time-loss to save money. The most outrageous story was offered by Jamie McGowan, a 38-year-old hotel manager from the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. "I came from Glasgow last night on Megabus," he said, " so by the time I get to Paris it will be 18 hours" travelling. But I don't mind. I can sit and read. When you have a stressful life, just to sit and chill is sheer bliss. It doesn't bother me at all. More to the point, Jamie had secured an outgoing ticket for £5 and a return for £10; so the whole round-trip was £15 plus £1 booking fee. He had also booked online five nights accommodation in Paris for around £200 - all of which added up to an amazingly cheap break. "I normally fly everywhere, but when I saw this deal I thought, 'Hey, take it,"" he said. Rachel Stewart, a 23-year-old postgraduate journalism student from Hereford, was also more than happy to give up the speed of a train or plane to save money. "I came from Hereford by train last night and stayed with a friend in London," she said. So in total, getting to Paris will cost me less than £15. I'm going to meet a friend, and see my boyfriend - I see him a lot, in fact, and I normally go by easyJet, which costs me £40 to £60. But someone tweeted about Megabus and I got a ticket for £4.50. Eurolines, the coach service run by National Express, is currently offering £9 one-way London-to-Paris fares until June, which competes sharply with Megabus. Eurostar last week was offering one-way seats in May for £34.50. Rachel is, in fact, something of an expert in long-distance coach travel, having spent early student years on long-haul road trips all over Europe, so the prospect of being cooped up in a bus for almost nine hours didn't bother her. Her advice to fellow travellers? Try to get the back seat because you can spread out more. Avoid the toilet area because it's terrible to sit close to people going in and out, and it smells. In fact, on this journey it didn't. One of those sitting near the loo was Ed Cant, a teacher from Essex, who joked that the only smells he had noticed were those he had made himself. And the service generally? I think it's excellent. The chairs are a little bit close together, but I'm comfortable. Meanwhile the road beyond the windows was unwinding fast - two hours from London to Dover, where we caught the ferry for Calais with minimal fuss. Strolling around the ship for just over an hour made a nice change, and then it was back on the bus and off to Boulogne, a scheduled stop, followed by a whizz down the A16, round Amiens to the Porte Maillot coach park on the edge of Paris - about eight miles from the centre, but still on the Metro, and only 30 minutes from the Gare du Nord. How did I feel as we pulled in after around six hours on a coach, plus a ferry ride and some hanging around? Well, I was left wondering how long Megabus will keep its extraordinarily low fares. But apart from that... Instead of feeling stifled and frustrated, as I had half-expected, I felt lulled, almost tranquilised. I read. Dozed. Ate a pie. The views were green and pleasant, the road empty, the ride smooth. In all, I agreed with David Brown, a Londoner who shrewdly grabbed the back seat and chilled away the journey with earphones and a laptop. "It's been fine," he said. And that's what I felt, too - even though we cruised into Paris 30 minutes behind schedule. Planes, trains and buses London to Paris Cost Time Megabus 9 hours15 mins 2 hours 16 mins 1 hour 20 mins For travel on May 4. One-way fares; correct at time of going to press.