Planning train out of Italy to France

Go to:
www.trenitalia.com
select from Roma Termini
to Torino Porta Susa or Torino Porta Nuova (Turin's main stations).
you may need to select a date in the near future in the next few days. If you select a day months ahead in the future it might be the cause of the issue you are having. The timetable for next summer may have not been downloaded yet. I checked for next week and there are plenty of trains.

Or what is going on?

Nothing, You must enter a day of travel before June 13 to see the complete schedules

The French TGV trains call only at Torino Porta Susa.

The day we want is like 3 hours and then on to Pompei.... does anyone know why?

Because there are no 3 hours trains on the day you want? Sorry, but it's impossible to give a real answer without knowing the train company, the day of travel and the time of departure you selected.

Ok so I looked again and found trains from Rome to Turin nueva but I cannot see a schedule for Porta Susa to Paris.I tried booking from this month all the way up to September another are no schedules. I did take a screen shot but I can't load it here Guess

Dario-

We want to travel Friday Sept 24 to Pompei from Rome. Ideally we would like to leave Rome around 8 and be back around 4 but cannot make that work at this moment

As I wrote above, you must wait for June 13 to see the complete schedules.
The trains from Roma Termini to Torino Porta Susa are run by two competing companies: trenitalia.com and italotreno.it Both stop at Torino Porta Susa.
The French trains from Torino Porta Susa to Paris Gare de Lyon are run by sncf.com. SNCF does NOT use Torino Porta Nuova station.

Bluewalea, is there a reason you’re stopping in Turin? I took a direct overnight train from Rome to Paris and slept in a sleeper car.
You can travel direct rom Rome to Turin in 4h 45m. However, the train from Turin to Paris requires multiples connections and takes 9h 30m. As of today, I don’t see any overnight trains from Rome to Paris.
You can also fly non-stop from Rome to Paris for $27 on Ryanair. Or from Turin to Paris for $104.

I would suggest Rome to Milan and then Milan to Paris. It will be much easier. Turin doesn't have a lot of simple options to Paris.

Mary Pat-

"is there a reason you’re stopping in Turin? I took a direct overnight train from Rome to Paris and slept in a sleeper car.
You can travel direct rom Rome to Turin in 4h 45m. However, the train from Turin to Paris requires multiples connections and takes 9h 30m. As of today, I don’t see any overnight trains from Rome to Paris.
You can also fly non-stop from Rome to Paris for $27 on Ryanair. Or from Turin to Paris for $104."

The reason I was stopping inTurin is because the "man in seat 61" said that was the best route. I was looking into an overnight because that's what we really wanted to do but can't find any either. i wound up booking a flight using points on Air France from Rome direct to Paris.

As always, the Man in Seat 61 is right (unless he's not trying to re-sell train tickets):

• Turin has a direct train connection with Paris, the TGV (high speed) service doesn't require multiple connections and it doesn't take 9 hours.
• In Milan, Italian trains from Rome and French trains to Paris use different stations.
• Because of Covid and the summer timetable change, what you see now is very different from what will be available in September. Re Covid it's the same for airlines.

We are planning on going down to Pompei on a day trip when we are in
Rome but the trains from Rome to Naples right up to the Friday we are
going are only about 2 hours. The day we want is like 3 hours and then
on to Pompei.... does anyone know why?

When are you going? Normally Rome to Naples is a bit over one hour by high speed train, but the September schedule is probably not in the correct database yet. Trains are not like flights, people don't buy train tickets four months in advance.

Bluewalea, is there a reason you’re stopping in Turin?

Turin is an underrated city that is well worth a night or two in my opinion.

However, the train from Turin to Paris requires multiples connections
and takes 9h 30m.

Turin to Paris is in normal times 5:20 with direct TGV, and that includes stunning views of the alps as you cross them.

I would suggest Rome to Milan and then Milan to Paris. It will be much
easier. Turin doesn't have a lot of simple options to Paris.

It doesn't get simpler than direct TGVs.

i wound up booking a flight ........... from Rome direct to Paris.

That seems like a better choice than trains. Was puzzled why you were trying to do it by train

We want to travel Friday Sept 24 to Pompeii from Rome. Ideally we would like to leave Rome around 8 and be back around 4 but cannot make that work

To leave Rome at 8 and be back there by 4, leaves you 3-3.5 hours in Pompeii. You will have to move at a brisk pace or forego seeing quite a bit Be sure you have your expectations properly set, so as not to be disappointed.

There has not been a direct Rome-Paris night train for years and the Thello Milan-Paris night train does not get great reviews (and is not operating during COVID). I enjoyed a couple of days in Turin/Torino and agree with stopping there, or else fly from Rome to Paris on Easy Jet (or similar).