Looking up train schedules in France.

You can check train schedules just about anywhere in Europe using the https://int.bahn.de/en website. However I don't believe that site sells tickets for France. If you want to purchase tickets in advance, you can use the SNCF website or register with a reseller such as Trainline. I've used Trainline in the past and it worked well. They may charge a small fee for service but I don't find that to be a problem.

You can also check https://www.seat61.com/.

The English language SNCF website is https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/

Man in Seat 61 does not have full schedules for every route in France, or any other country.

When are you looking for? If it's too far in advance the SNCF won't show them, even if places like Trainline are selling tickets in the hope that the timetables wont change

There is something wonky going on with SNCF. I've been getting a "Sorry, an error has occurred. Please try again later" message when I try to select a Paris departure with a Bordeaux arrival. If I go to Rail Europe, I can plug in my departure from Paris on May 21 but not my return on May 27 probably because May 27 is too far out by just a few days. I have used Rail Europe before with good results. I just pay a tad more to use their site. Rail Europe has always been user friendly for me, but then, I've used SNCF before, as well.

The SNCF Connect website is uncommonly user-UNfriendly, a real mess to find your way around in whether you speak French, English, or anything else.

I would look (and I also purchase) on Trainline.

95% of all the confusion non-Europeans encounter when booking European train tickets comes from trying to book to soon. Trains are mass transit. Most train tickets are bought just before travel.

You can often save money buying in advance, but it is not needed buying 6 months in advance. A few days in advance is usually enough, but a few weeks, up to 2 months will get you the best prices.

This topic thread saved me! I have been feeling very dumb because I can't seem to manage the SNCF.com website. Thank you! (It's not me, it's the website!)

If the purpose is only to find possible routes, schedules, say from Grenoble to Tours, Rouen to Orleans, Chaumont to Soissons, etc , that sort of information, then I use Deutsch Bahn. Very useful

I've actually gotten pretty good at the sncf connect page as of late, it seems quite straightforward to me, but my brain forgot how to toggle to the English version last week so I just kept googling "sncf connect english" and it did the trick :)

My brain is still baffled that sncf.com isn't the place to get tickets haha

So this is too early for say Colmar to Paris. I really was only looking to see how long it took and how much and the schedule. I went to Trainline and found some trains already sold out. I suppose if it is a reseller, that's only the seats they could sell. They did have 4 seats left on the Ouigo train, for 100 euros one way, 3 1/2 hours I believe. And there were some for for about 8 1/2 hours. Does that sound like what you would pay a few days or week before in May. I'm also considering a rail pass, but it says the train may not have seats left for rail pass passengers.
Any comments?

I’ve sent you a private message with information I hope will help you navigate SNCF.

I may have missed it in an earlier post, but when will you be taking this trip? I wouldn't bother with a Railpass, as if part of the tip is on a high speed TGV train, you'll have to buy a compulsory seat reservation.

We will be in France from May 1 to May 21. The trip from Colmar to Paris, the 12th.

Thanks for the additional information. There are numerous departures listed on the Bahn.de website on 12 May, including a direct departure at 10:01, arriving Paris Gare de l'Est at 12:33 (one stop in Strasbourg).

I also checked Trainline and the prices seemed a bit high. The SNCF site didn't seem to have the same results as the others. I don't know for sure but I suspect it might be too early to buy tickets for that date. In the same situation, I'd check again in two or three weeks and see if there's any change in ticket pricing or availability.

My brain is still baffled that sncf.com isn't the place to get tickets haha

They have rebranded (badly) so many times, it is enough to drive a person crazy. If only they would spend the marketing time /money on providing a better service .....

Using SNCFConnect app, I see 11 trains available from Colmar to Paris on May 12. A couple others are sold out, while a couple say not-bookable for some reason. The least expensive is at 7:41, a InOui for 50 euros. The most expensive is at 11:06 for 118.30 euros.

That Sunday will be a slightly heavier travel day because after the May 8th holiday some people will take Thursday and Friday to have a 5-day weekend. That's why at least one train is already sold out.

I have no trouble using the SNCF Connect app or website and have never even looked at the others sites. The company has been split into at least three units, which might be a bit confusing between Ouigo, InOui, Intercités, TER, etc.

A train pass would be a hindrance in your case.

Using SNCFConnect app, I see 11 trains available from Colmar to Paris on May 12. A couple others are sold out, while a couple say not-bookable for some reason. The least expensive is at 7:41, a InOui for 50 euros. The most expensive is at 11:06 for 118.30 euros.

The "Not bookable" options are the options that include a regional train from Colmar to Strasbourg. It is too early to book those.
So, if you are interested in those options, you should book the Strasbourg-Paris leg. You can buy the regional train ticket at a later date, they do not sell out.
Do not wait too long: it will be a very busy travel day for Paris-bound traffic.

I have switched my search on SNCF to the Safari browser from the Chrome browser. It now works for me.

Can't seem to find afternoon trains from Paris to Bayeux for Saturday in late May....is it too early for these tickets as well?

It is, I believe I was looking to see how far it goes out and I was hitting on May 21st (as I was trying to find my specific day of the week, so somewhere there abouts). The Bayeux train I am eyeing is a regional (or a fancy regional) train (HA I call them regionales cuz I know them from Italy) so they definitely won't be on sale this far in advance. Someone posted the French page to see when specific French trains go on sale and my "decision tree" type answers for my July trip for the fast trains is March 6th, but I didn't check for regional ones. Those don't need to be on sale for a LONG time, as most of them are generic no seat reservation type trains (tickets are all the same too right? or is that just in Italy?).

Thank you Katherine...I'll check the train schedule in a few more days.

These have all been useful responses. Especially the one about that Sunday being a very busy day. I always manage to pick the difficult day.