As of right now, there are no tickets available on May 17 for this train, according to trainline.eu. Can this be?
Looking at a bus on vianavigo.com, but they don't show the May calendar yet, and it appears they won't until the day before we leave for our trip. I really want to get our reservations and tickets before we leave the states.
Any recommendations or tips on this issue?
It is just a TER ticket that you buy out of a vending machine or the ticket window then validate it before boarding the train. There is a train about every hour showing at SNCF, If you are over 60, you may get a 25% discount, depending on what time you choose.
Cost is 16 EUR, and 12 EUR if you are over 60.
I'm not sure how you're searching. When I go to trainline.eu and input Chartres to Paris on May 17, it shows all the hourly trains. It shows no 1st class available if that's what you're looking for, but that's because the train is all 2nd class. As the other poster said, just go to the Chartres station and buy a ticket from the machine or from the manned window if available. No need to reserve or buy in advance.
It's a local train - no reservations and no discount for purchasing tickets in advance.
No reservations are required for this journey you can just buy a ticket at the station. It's not really a hassle and more convenient since trains are frequent and you can leave later if you love Chartres more than expected. (Which I did!)
Curious ?? where were you looking? I see plenty of trains as the others have. We just did that run in Oct. Walk into the station, turn right to the ticket window and buy your tickets. Walk to the platform and get on the train to Paris. No seat reservations, go anytime.