where to find...

Bigger question, Do you even need a rail pass????

FRank has a good point, railpasses are NOT always a good deal. Point to point tickets can work out cheaper, so think carefully about how much you may , or may not use pass.

bobby,

As the others have mentioned, Railpasses can only be purchased outside of Europe. Again as mentioned, are you sure that a Railpass is the best option? Note that Railpasses must be validated before first use, and these DO NOT include the reservation fees that are compulsory with some trains; you'll have to pay those separately (P-P tickets include the reservation fees).

If you DO want a Railpass, ETBD is one of the largest vendors of these in the U.S. Simply click the "Railpasses" tab at the top, and you can purchase the pass from this site (they're normally delivered VERY quickly!). If you have any questions, you might want to phone the Rail experts at ETBD (as time is short, calling would be the quickest and easiest method).

For the trip from Frankfurt to Paris, you could also use P-P tickets, which you can obtain at the airport in Frankfurt (there's a Rail ticket office in one part of the airport, as well as a rail station - therefore the "closest station to the airport" is the airport station!).

There are several trains on that route every day. What time does your flight arrive? Depending on which train you end up using, the travel time will be as short as 3H:56M, with one change (usually in Mannheim or Karlsruhe). There are Saver Fares as low as €39, but I'll leave it to Lee to explain the different fare options (standard fare is ~€109).

You'll probably arrive at Paris Est. You can get from there to any part of Paris using the Metro. Which part of the city will you be staying in?

If you haven't used trains in Europe, I'd highly recommend reading the "Rail Skills" chapter in Europe Through The Back Door before you leave.

Happy travels!

Actually, according to the FAQs on the Eurail website,

"Many larger train stations throughout Europe sell Eurail Passes, like the stations with a Eurail Aid Office.

"Only the following Eurail Passes are for sale in Europe:

* Eurail Global Pass
* Eurail Select Pass
* [an assortment of single and two country passes]".

I've never tried this personally, but that is what Eurail claims. Passes are about 20% more expensive in Europe. European cannnot buy them; you'll have to show proof of residence outside Europe.

There are actually two rail stations "in" the Frankfurt airport. The Regionalbahnhof, which serves regional trains and the S-Bahn between Frankfurt and Mainz/Wiesbaden, is under the bus building across the access road from Terminal 1. You get to it via stairs or escalators inside Terminal 1 and a passage under the road. The Fernbahnhof serves long distance trains (mostly ICEs) and is on the other side of the Autobahn, which is on the other side of the bus building. There is a pedestrian bridge from the second floor of Terminal 1 to the bus building and an enclosed bridge over the Autobahn.

There are Eurail Aid offices at the ticket counter, Reisezentrum, in both Bahnhofs.

If you are not leaving home until May 17th, you have plenty of time to have a rail pass sent to you in Dallas.

There is one change (Mannheim) ICE service from the Fernbahnhof to Paris. However, the €39, and up, fares Ken mentioned are advance purchase, date and train specific, non-refundable tickets, hardly appropriate for someone just arriving on a flight from the U.S. If your flight is delayed significantly, you could lose the entire ticket and have to buy a full fare one, anyway.

I would normally advise someone newly arriving in the morning in Frankfurt to wait at least until late in the day, preferably the next day, to attempt to use a non-refundable ticket, but with an active volcano in the mid-Atlantic, I think all bets are off.

As others have already pointed out, a rail pass might not be the best deal for your travel. However, not knowing your itinerary (other than FRA to Paris, it's not possible for us to determine that.

The only thing is, im currently in Afghanastan, I wouldnt have enough time to get the pass sent to me from a family/friends house. My itinerary is as follows: Frankfurt 18th
Paris 18th,19th,20th
amsterdam 20th,21st
berlin 22,23 (fri/sat)
prague 24,25,26
budapest 26,27
frankfurt 28
wherever 29,30,31,1
frankfurt 1,2

Global pass is one of the cheaper options and the only one offering a "15 consecutive day" option
(it does look like im bouncing around a little bit, but its because i have certain things booked ahead of time)Point to Point still look viable?

Do you need a 15 consecutive day pass? It looks like you only have roughly 8 travel days, I would check out a couple of websites and price out the point to point tickets compared to the rail passes, which, as I have heard on this board, are often times not your cheapest option, though maybe more convenient for first time European travelers.
Good luck!