Hello! My wife and I are planning our first European trip in August. I am currently planning on purchasing a 4 day France-Germany Saverpass (possibly 1st class since it is only $70 more for both of us) and am concerned about reservations. I have two specific questions following our current itinerary below:
Aug 7: Arrive Paris 11:00 - Take TGV to Metz, France
Aug 8: Day trip to Luxumbourg via train (point-to-point ticket)
Aug 9: Take 7:41 Train from Metz to Hildesheim, Germany
Aug 11: Take 6:25 Train from Hildesheim to Metz
Aug 13: Take TGV to Paris
Aug 16: Take Eurostar to London
Aug 19: Depart London
Question #1: I am reluctant to reserve seats on the TGV from Paris to Metz given the uncertainty of on-time flight arrivals. Would I be better off making reservations now and dealing with possible change fees in the event of a late flight or plan on reserving a seat after arriving in Paris?
Question #2: One of my preferred train segments from Metz to Hildesheim requires a reservation (ICE 9551 Forbach (F) to Mannheim HBF). However, I am unable to select "Seat reservation only (for self printing)" from the Bahn website. Rail Europe wants to charge me $22 2nd class and $68 1st class for reservations. How should I go about obtaining reservations for this train? Should I just buy them upon arrival at the Metz train station or get them in advance? For the other segments of the journey, I assume that if we are in first class that we won't really have to worry about the trains being too full.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Ivan