So the main issue I'm finding myself is finding a ticket. For some reason, the departing flight from JFK to CDG are mostly all direct, but the returning flight are mostly 20 hours because of very long layovers.

I'm not too worried about finding a place to stay or what I will do, since a friend who speaks fluent French is willing to help me out while I'm there.

Here's the research I've done:

Skiplagged/Google Flights tell me that average prices are around $880-1000. I'm not sure if the risk using the hidden city/multi city flights is worth it, considering I'll be stuck in Paris if things don't go so well. I'm also a little wary in case of any delays or cancellations in flights, which will end up in my tickets being voided?

Not worrying about the budget at the moment, since the first step is getting a ticket. I know I can find a decently priced ticket myself, but I wanted to ask the helpful people here to find the most affordable ticket possible.

I will update this post when I have more information and research!

EDIT:

Sorry everyone, forgot to include depart/arrival dates.

I plan on leaving December 24th and return back to JFK on the 4th/5th.