Question concerning Paris CDG and Rail System

Here's what you need to do:
How to Buy Tickets Online

1. Order train tickets online at TGV-Europe.com. On the main page, click "More Criteria."
2. Enter "PARIS" as your departure and "PAU" as the destination. As you type, a drop down list will appear. Click on Paris and Pau, respectively.
3. Select your date and preferred departure time. Click the circle next to "Direct Trains."
4. Under Section 2 "Who is travelling?," select the appropriate age range. Under Section 3, select GREAT BRITAIN for receiving or collecting tickets. This will prevent a redirect to overpriced Rail Europe. In reality, your son will collect the ticket at the airport or Gare Montparnasse, the departure station in Paris.
5. Choose your journey time. Allow ~90 minutes between the plane landing and the train departure. PREMs, early-bird specials, will be the cheapest (from 22€). They cannot be exchanged or refunded. Order in advance to see these. Refundable/exchangeable tickets start at 52€. Click "Choose this outward journey" to continue.
6. Review your choice. Click "Confirm." On the next page, choose how to collect your ticket. If given the choice of printing the tickets at home, choose that one. The SNCF will send you a PDF link to print out the ticket on standard business paper. If you don't see this option, opt to retrieve them at a French ticket station. Your son will need to have the actual physical credit card used for purchase, along with the confirmation e-mail, to retrieve them at the airport station.
7. Enter your name and e-mail address. Check the little box at the end. Click "Confirm." On the next page, enter the payment information. Click "Confirm" and pay for your order." Next- how to get from CDG to Montparnasse...

The easiest way to Pau involves only two changes:
1. Paris CDG to Gare Montparnasse via Air France coach.
2. Gare Montparnasse to Pau via TGV.

Your son should use Air France Coach #4. Go the Air France link above and click on LINES (near the bottom). Click on 4. Two maps will appear: one of the airport with labeled pick up points; another of the area surrounding Gare Montparnasse. The shuttle costs 15€ one-way and leaves every 30 minutes from 7am to 9pm. Tickets may be purchased at the airport or from the bus driver.

Thanks everyone for your help. My son is going to the website right now to purchase his ticket. This helped so much.

Without looking at rail schedules, my guess is that he will probably need to take some combination of the RER and Metro to one of the major rail hubs in Paris (probably Gare d'Austerlitz). From there, he can buy his ticket and probably transfer to Pau (but my guess is that he'll have to change trains a few times between Paris and Pau). Unless he plans to travel during a national holiday, there's little advantage to buying a direct rail ticket in advanced. Just show up at the ticket counter. There should be little language barrier, although you may want to check the online time tables... there's plenty of rail gurus who regularly offer rail advice on this website, so I'll let them give you the specifics.

I am not familiar with that web site but would check prices carefully with the RR directly. EurRail and other travel agencies tend to charge high prices and add fees. That looks ike a travel agency.

Now I have another question since everyone was so helpful. Once my son gets to the airport, he is going into Paris for 1 day, 1 night. He would like to stay at a hostel near Montparnasse. Can anyone recommend one? He will be getting on the train at Montparnasse to go to Pau early the next morning. Thanks so much.

Frank, TGV-Europe is run and owned by the SNCF. It has the exact same prices as the native Voyages-SNCF.com, but it's in good English. The trick is to select GREAT BRITAIN, not USA, as the country of collection.

Karen, the Young and Happy Hostel is the closest hostel I could find. It's about 15-20 minutes from Montparnasse. It has a decent reputation and is near a metro stop. I've never stayed there myself, but the reviews are generally positive. NB: Every hostel has dissatisfied customers - only thing that varies is the amount... If your son wants the basics for a night, hostelling is the way to go. If he's expecting luxury, he'll be disappointed.

From Young and Happy Hostel to Gare Montparnasse:
1. Walk to Place Monge.

2. Take Line 7 to Place d'Italie (Direction: Villejuif-Louis Aragon or Mairie d'Ivry).

3. Change to Line 6 at Place d'Italie. Take Line 6 to Montparnasse-Bienvenüe (Direction: Charles de Gaulle-Etoile).

4. Disembark at Montparnasse. Follow signs for "Grandes Lignes" / Gare Montparnasse.

CDG to Young and Happy:
1. Take the Air France shuttle #4 to Gare Montparnasse.

2. Board métro line 6 at Gare Montparnasse. Take it to Place d'Italie (Direction: Nation).

3. At Place d'Italie, change for line 7. Take it to Place Monge (Direction: La Courneuve 8 Mai 1945).

4. Walk to the hostel.

Bon voyage!

Martine - you have been so helpful. Thank you so much. Brad is so excited about this trip. With your directions, I'm sure it will go smoothly. He is paying for most of this trip so he is looking for cheap, but nice. So I don't think he is expecting luxury. Thanks again.
Karen

You're welcome. If you/your son have any more questions, feel free to start another thread or send me a private message.