Midway stop btwn Paris & Venice?
 

Looks like the rail time from Paris to Venice is 7 to 9 hours! Yikes! Our itinerary gives us time to spend the night to break up the trip. Any suggestions? We're a couple in our late fifties and we'll be traveling for 4 weeks in Britain, France and Italy-leaving November 8th---I think I should have bought my rail pass and made reservations yesterday right?

Assuming you take the TGV from Gare de Lyon, Turin (Torino) is a good place to break your journey. Elegant, relatively quiet city centre.

No, a rail pass would have been a bad idea. But where are you looking for travel times on rail from Paris to Venice? You definitely should have bought train tickets by now for a voyage in early November - the prices get more expensive every day out from your day of travel.

Just fly and have an extra day in Venice. Even if you don't want more time in Venice, do a day trip to Padua or Vicenza.

Ditto Sassafras. There are cheap flights from Paris Orly to Venice. Orly is smaller and easier to get to than CDG.

Why not fly? Fares start at 70 EUR/PAX with 1 piece of checked in luggage (for the random date of November 14th)
http://www.easyjet.com/

There is also a overnight train with berths and sleeperettes (Paris dp 19.11 - Venice ar 9.35; daily except November 11th, 12th and 13th)
https://www.thello.com/

If you look just for a overnight stop (no visit of the town where you stop over), I suggest:

Paris dp 17.57 - Lausanne ar 21.37 (direct train with dining car)
Lausanne dp 8.18 - Venice ar 14.40 (direct train with dining car)

Alternative:
Paris dp 14.41 - Turin PS ar 20.18 (direct train with dining car)
Turin PS dp 7.19 - Venice ar 11.40 (direct train)

tonfromleiden's suggestion of Turin is a real nice one. Turin is one of those rare gems: it's gorgeous, it's sensuous, it has all the Italian charms, it's a regal city with loads of highlights, and it's a place tourists don't trample to pieces even though the touristic infrastructure is great because of the preparations for the Olympics a while back.

[Some of my fave places in Italy are Turin, Bologna, SanRemo, Camogli, Rimini, Ferrara, Lucca, and Veneto (including Venice, but enjoying Venice as part of the larger area including Padua, Vicenza, Lido di Venezia, and even modern but vibrant Lido di Jesolo).]

Enjoying some out-of-the-standard character, like in Turin, can be really nurturing.

Dfourh, don't forget Trieste, with its nineteenth-century charm of the Austrian days still intact, and Genova, with its well-hidden charms and the most gorgeous cemetery I have ever seen.

Verona is a good stop too though farther from Paris - I loved Turin.

there is also an overnight Thello train running between Paris and Venice - save daytime travel time over a route that is not awesomely scenic and the cost of a hotel - www.thello.com.

That said night trains ain't for everyone though I've taken zillions and rarely had any problems sleeping but there is always some noise from inside and outside of the train.

Milan of course would also be a good one-night stand.

For lots about trains check www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com- latter one great info on discounted tickets you can easily book on your own thru European railway sites.

I can't see how the France-Italy Railpass could be a good deal for you unless taking lots more trains than indicated.

Why bother to stop in some beautiful place where you will not have time to see anything? Arriving at 8 or 9 at night and leaving the next morning at 7 or 8 does not, IMHO make sense, especially in November when days are getting shorter. It will be dark when you arrive for the night and you will have no time in the morning.

If you haven't already bought train tickets, I'd take EasyJet from Venice to Paris Orly airport - there are always cheap fares.
Either spend more time in Venice or more time in Paris.
It's not worth travelling 9 hours just to make one short stop.
I would not advise taking a night train at all - they are uncomfortable, and you won't see anything.

I, too, was going to suggest Turin, but it deserves more than one night. If you do a search, there is an excellent TR on Turin, or I have a post on it here:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-9370880

Don't know how scenic the stretch from Paris to Lyon is, but between Lyon and Turin it is certainly scenic.