Train from CDG to Avignon

Usually the advice is to plan on a train from CDG that leaves 3 hours after your arrival time and 4 hours for trains leaving from Paris. I think that you have enough time if by close to 7 AM, you mean before 7:30 and by just before 10, you mean the 9:58 train and you have your ticket in hand. Are you arriving at Terminal 1? The CDGVal shuttle ride takes you from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 in about 10 minutes -- as an aside, don't forget when you are on the shuttle that Terminal 3 is between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.

I would say you would be fine - you are probably landing at Terminal 1 and leaving from Terminal 2 on the TGV. Taking the tram between terminals is easy. They run frequently. There are 2 stops in Avignon - we rented a car for the area from the 1st stop, outside of town.

The SNCF website will sell you a ticket that can be changed on the day of travel. The price of the adjustable ticket is a little higher than the regular fare, plus a fee of €15 when the change is made. Because your itinerary involves changing trains in Lyon, there is a fee of €15 for the second train too. These tickets are on sale and probably can be printed at home although I didn't follow the process all the way through to paying for them.
Worth it? Well, only you can decide; a three-hour margin at CdG is something of a gamble but with fairly good odds in my opinion.

Thanks for the help. I didn't know about being able to buy a ticket in advance that could be changed. I can buy the tickets soon since we are going in late April.

You should check for tickets today if you want the low priced tickets. Some routes have tickets on sale more than 90 days before date of travel especially for spring and summer travel and CDG to Avignon is one of those. You might be surprised to find that the low priced tickets are already sold out.

Unless things go really haywire, you should have plenty of time. Last April we flew into CDG and had to get a train from Gare Montparnasse, and made it in 2 hours total, by bus. On the plus side, we had already cleared immigration in Iceland; on the minus side, there was a transport strike. As to getting tickets that can be changed, I believe that not counting full-fare refundable tickets, the changeable tickets only allow a change up to the day before travel, which doesn't do any good in your kind of situation.

Actually, the middle price ticket to Avignon can be changed on the day of departure. It's just that it will cost 15€ as compared to 5€ on other days. The fully flexible (highest priced) ticket can be changed up to one hour after the train has departed. You have to read the terms and conditions for your ticket because the exchange rules are not the same for every destination.

Purchased the tickets. Bought the semi flexible ones for 128 euros total for 2 seniors. Feel comfortable with the 3 hours from landing to leaving on the train, especially with the more flexible tickets. Thanks for all your help, especially JHK. The cheapest tickets were already sold. But still happy.....

When are you travelling, Patricia? I'm planning to catch that train too in early June, but only as far as Lyon, and Loco2.com tells me that booking doesn't open until early March. Does that mean you are travelling earlier, or did you find another website on which you were able to book that 9.58 TGV already?

Cgichard, your tickets are not available for sale yet. Tickets do not always go on sale 90 days before travel date. Sometimes they do but sometimes it is earlier on certain routes. Here is my suggestion: go to scnf.com/en and put in your trip information in the reservations drop down box. There will be a message that tickets are not bookable but there is a link to sign up for e-mail notification when the tickets go on sale.

I actually booked the tickets at capitainetrain.com. I had a bit of a problem because they wouldn't let my charge card be used (citi advantage) and I didn't want to give the extra info. Finally I did on the third try and got the reservation. My credit card company later called because there had been three charges made. But all is okay now. The date of the reservations is April 26 so more than 90 days out. I think this is a popular route. My return from Brive is not yet open.

Good luck!

Thanks JHK and Patricia. I do already have an alert set with Loco2.com (with whom I already have an account), but just in case of a different answer, I looked also on Trainline.eu (which took over Capitaine train some months ago). There I was also told it was too early, but offered a late night Ouigo train - very cheap, but I really don't want to wait around CDG that long after a long-haul flight from Australia.