I've done some searching on this issue and have found many different responses and viewpoints, but I'm hoping that someone here may be able to clear things up for me.

My wife and I are going to France in May. We bought our railpasses through RailEurope and thought that, two months before our trip, it might be time to begin at least looking to make our reservations for the TGV legs of our journey, which one can do through the RailEurope website.

We immediately started to panic, as one of the main links of our journey (Paris-Nice) was listed as "Sold Out." We started looking at other legs of our journey and many were also Sold Out. We're now confronted with several questions:

(1) I know that reservations are MUCH cheaper to make once we're in France. But shouldn't I make these reservations now, through RailEurope, so that we are assured a seat on the TGV?

(2) What about those smaller cities that are serviced by the TGV but are not available for reservations on the RailEurope site (e.g., Annecy, Metz, St. Malo)? Should we call RailEurope to make those reservations or just hedge our bets that they will not be sold out?

(3) Finally, does anyone know definitively whether or not RailEurope is only allocated a small percentage of reservations on any given TGV journey?

Thanks very much for anyone who can help.

You'll probably get several lectures on the wisdom om buying a railpass so I'll skip that.
Have you looked at sites other than RailEurope? Since it appears that your travels will be restricted to France, try looking on the SNCF site English language version at http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/...=cmdHomepageUK

Thanks, Seamus. Can one make ONLY a reservation through the SNCF website? I was under the impression (probably mistaken?) that one could only purchase actual tickets--not just a reservation w/an already purchased railpass--this way.

You cannot make ONLY a reservation on the SNCF site. I suggest you call the SNCF English-speaking number and make all your reservations at once at in-Europe prices. Dial 011 (US international access code) + 33 (country code for France) + (0)8 92 35 35 39. Omit the initial zero which is only used for calls originating in France. If you get an automated rsponse, press "2" and you should be connected to someone who speaks English.

Thanks, TimS. I will try to get in touch with SNCF directly.

I haven't had a French railpass for some years, but had no problem getting reservations in France when I did that. However, some TGVs on certain popular dates/holidays, things like that can be sold out. It isn't common, though.

When I had one, there were no restrictions on the pass for reservations, but I think I've read that now SNCF limits the seats some for railpass holders. I don't think it's a Raileurope issue, just a railpass issue (if that is the case, I don't know for sure).

It is possible the train you want really is sold out, or sold out for railpass holders, anyway. May has a lot of holidays, you may be running into that issue, trains will be sold out around or on holidays, especially for popular times. A lot of French people use them to popular spots for holiday weekends, for example. You are obviously going to popular holiday destinations.

Number of seats available to passholders can be less than what are available to point to point ticket buyers.

Here is one place that mentions this limitation:

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail07/usepass.htm