I am going to France in Jul. I ordered a 3 day rail pass. After I ordered it, I discovered that when you have a pass it is difficult to reserve seats on a specific train. Yet when I look up trains and do not indicate I have a pass, there are many options available.

Do I chance it without reservations... or return the pass (at a 15% forfeiture penalty) and then buy the tickets a la carte? My routes of interest are Lyon to Nimes... Nimes to Chambery... and Chambery to Geneva. (Related question: how long should I allow between landing in Lyon and claiming bags/passport control/getting downtown before getting on a train at Lyon Part Deux?)

Thanks
Jeff

I just received our rail passes and we are also travelling to Europe in a few weeks. We had the company we ordered the passes from make our reservations for certain trains . YOu might want to look at that route.

Hi JC,

I agree with Jasmine.

These are relatively short journeys and I find it hard to believe a rail pass is worthwhile.
You almost certainly don't need advance reservations. From Lyon to Nimes, there are lots of connections, some partly involving local trains. TGVs are often fully booked from Paris, but there are usually spare seats if you join the train later in its journey.
It will also depend on which day of the week and time of day you're travelling.

Thanks Geoff - sounds like you know what you are talking about.
So are you saying it's possible to get on a TGV without a reservation at all? I was under the impression it was 100% required for a TGV.