Reading a prior post about travel during French vacation weeks and turns out our preliminary 2016 travel plan is to arrive in Paris on July 2 or 3rd and then TBG to Avignon. Yikes. Is this really a bad idea? Holiday starts on July 2 after end of classes.

If it's the train tickets you're worried about, just book early. There are only so many seats on the train....

I think the school holidays in France don't start until a week or so later; I wouldn't want to be driving then.

French usually don't go on holiday in july. Germans, Belgians and Dutchs yes, but French tend to take them in august.
Can't see much problem. Book early to get best fares but tickets are not issued that long in advance (90 days ?).
Mvg

Just book early. During the summer most of the trains are almost 100% full every day anyway.

I remember checking several months ago and just checked again to make sure. The school holidays in France for 2016 start July 5th.

Thanks all!

I wouldn't worry about it, I've been on lots of trains that were completely full in France not during holidays, so it doesn't make any difference. Besides, I'm sure all French families don't go on holiday by train from Paris to Avignon on that date.

If you are not familiar with French train policy, reserved-seat tickets go on sale approximately three months in advance, give or take. Recently the SNCF company has occasionally offered some seats earlier than that. You can sign up with its website for advance notification of special sales. For more general info, www.seat61.com is the font of all train knowledge

Most French people start their summer holidays after July 14th.
There are tons of TGV trains from Paris to the Midi and I cannot see where should occur any problem.

You can also sign up on www.capitraine.com and receive sale notices.

Tickets for summer travel in 2015 went on sale in early April this year, so I would watch for a similar sale window in 2016.

And after a few recent TGV trips I've found that I prefer 1st class, and have found that it can sometimes be cheaper than 2nd class. I like that capitraine displays both prices side by side.

That should be: www.capitainetrain.com