direct train from Paris to Avignon TGV in June

Highly unlikely that tickets are already sold out for your dates. What is more likely, considering it is a Saturday, is that works are planned for somewhere along that route. Should those plans change, then more trains would be added.

There was a similar question on this forum several days ago. I did some looking at that time, and copy below part of me reply.
It seems that there is work being done on the line between Lyon and Marseille on four consecutive Saturdays.
From the SNCF website, “ Adaptation of the transport plan for direct INOUI TGVs between the North and South-East, as well as longer journey times between Lyon and Marseille/Montpellier, during the following periods in May and June 2026:
From the evening of May 29 to the morning of May 31.
From the evening of June 5 to the morning of June 7.
From June 12 evening to June 14 morning.
From June 19 evening to June 21 morning.
Cause: replacement of switches and crossings on the Line à grande Vitesse Sud-Est.‘

It may be possible for you to buy tickets if you travel on any day other than the Saturday.

The best thing to do is just wait.

First of all let me reiterate: Trains do not sell out months in advance. Even SNCF is not that incompetent. A railway that allows trains to sell out so fast is a railway that does not like making money.

So if you see tickets not available months in advance that means something else is going on. And in this case it is indeed that the line is closed. And SNCF is not in the habit of making alternative arrangements in these cases. You are on your own here.

So your option is to take a TGV to Lyon, and a TER From there to Avignon Centre. Will take a lot longer, but you will get there.

Thank you everyone for the replies. It was very helpful.

I think I have the following options:

1. Wait for a couple more weeks; keep checking daily and hope that a direct morning train from Gare de Lyon to Avignon TGV will open up. Is it likely that the planned work will be cancelled? Does that ever happen? The risk here is new trains dont open up and the prices of the existing options goes up.
2. Get a train from Paris to Avignon Center (instead of Avignon TGV). I see a couple of trains but it blows away most of my day since none of them are direct and the earliest I can practically reach Avignon is at 3pm.
3. Get to Avignon via some junction other than Lyon. This will make sense only if it takes less time than going via Lyon. Is there any such alternative? I am guessing there isn't since SNCF would have given me that option if it existed.
4. Take an overnight train from Paris Austerlitz to Avignon Center with berths so that we can sleep and get to Avignon quite early.

Any inputs on the above options? Any other options that I haven't listed above?

Thanks.

Have you considered flying to Marseille (1 1/2 hr direct), then a bus/train combo to Avignon?

Rather than taking a night train Friday night that departs at 9:25 pm and still requires connections to get to Avignon Centre, why not take the TGV direct to Avignon TGV at 8:09 pm, arriving at 10:56 pm and then taxi to Avignon Centre? Spend the night in a bedroom that does not move and shake.

And yes, I would wait a while before booking in case something else opens up. It is still 3 months away.

Took a look at Marseille after seeing your message CJean.
Given that there is an existing option that gets me into Avignon by 3pm, Marseille is not turning out to be faster and has several additional steps.

Regarding the night train, even the 9:25pm was a bit of a stretch for me since I have timed tickets for Louvre on Friday, when they are open late and we wanted to take advantage of the late closing.

My only concern with waiting is that the existing option of 8:18am (Gare de lyon) - 2:48pm (Avignon Center) will just become more expensive (if not sell out) if I wait and nothing better comes along. I have no idea if SNCF releases new trains as time goes on. Also, how long to wait for better tickets (2 weeks, 4 weeks?) is also not clear to me.

Honestly, even though some additional trains might appear at some point, if nothing pops up by early April I would just book a flight to Marseille and ease my mind. Getting to Avignon is fairly easy from Marseille airport (quick bus ride to Vitrolles station, then a regional train you don't need to book in advance).

TGV direct tickets went on sale today. Your trains are available now for June 13th.

Yes, you are right, Elizabeth. Thank you for letting me know.
They had sent me an email since I had set it up and I purchased them.